Birds of Kenya
When birding in a new country, what is banal to locals there can be thrilling to the visitor. In Bangladesh I have seen visitors marvel at our Purple Swamphens and Common Kingfishers. And so when I visited Kenya, the Superb Starling, which is very common there, delighted me. Its iridescent blue back, orange breast and white eyes that stared from its black head kept me spellbound.
That is not to say that it was the only bird of interest. Kenya has a large variety of birds because of the diverse terrain of the country – about 1100 species compared to our 700. I had the opportunity to see some of them during my recent trip.
In Masai Mara, vultures were the most prevalent birds of prey. Due to the hunting of prey - particularly Wildebeest - by the large cats, vultures seemed to have plenty to eat. I was able to observe them up close as they gorged themselves on discarded carcasses of Wildebeest, the most popular animal of the park.
There was the brown Long-crested Eagle which looks similar to our Crested Serpent Eagle. But their appearances diverge when they open their crests. The former’s crest shoots upward from the back of its head, while the latter’s swells in a ring around the neck.
The most unusual bird I saw in Masai Mara was a Secretary Bird. A terrestrial bird of prey, it hunts insects and small mammals on the ground with its sharp claws.
The Lilac-breasted Roller was also present aplenty in the park. Similar in build and shape to our Indian Roller, its purple and turquoise underparts and blue upperparts make it strikingly colourful.
Far from Masai Mara, the lakes of the Rift Valley are well-known for their bird population that includes Flamingos, Pelicans and other water birds. In Lake Nakuru I saw the Flamingos, though not in the large numbers that had been there in the past.
I also spotted my favourite African bird: the Grey-crowned Crane. I had seen this bird first in Uganda, where it is the national bird. Its golden crown and splashes of red give it an unforgettable look.
From Lake Nakuru I went to Lake Naivasha, another Rift Valley lake. Our group rented a boat to look for birds in the lake. The boatman was a knowledgeable guide who knew the names and habits of the birds.
We started out with the African Spoonbill with a distinctive bill, white with a flat, spoonlike bill. There were Cormorants aplenty, and Giant Kingfishers, about the size of our Brown-winged Kingfishers of Sundarban, but black with white dots. In the vegetation of the shores were Black Crakes, various Ibises and African Jacanas, but I did not see the standard shorebirds such as Sandpipers that we see in our Haors.
The highlight of the lake was its African Fish Eagles. They perched on top of tall, dead Acacia trees that were scattered throughout the lake. Sometimes they swooped into the water and caught a fish with their claws before returning to their perch.
Most people go to Kenya to see the animals, and rightfully so. But its rich birdlife also makes the country an attractive destination for birding.
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