Birding Around Nairobi
Nairobi National Park, hardly 10 minutes drive from city center. No where else in the world close to a modern city would you find such a high influx of big game and birds amidst a mixture of habitats – dry highland forest, open and wooded grasslands, wetlands, riverine forest, rocky outcrops, and human habitation. Examples of birds likely to be seen here are: Common Ostrich, African Darter, Great Egret, Saddle-billed Stork, Secretary Bird, Martial Eagle, African Fish Eagle, Bateleur, Lesser Kestrel, Helmeted Guineafowl, Jackson’s Widowbird, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Grey Crowned Crane, Kori Bustard, African Jacana, Blacksmith Plover, Lilac-breasted Roller, Malachite & Giant Kingfishers, Little Bee-eater, Grey Hornbill, Blue-napped Mousebird, Nubian Woodpecker, Brubru, African Penduline Tit, Wattled Starling, Beautiful Sunbird, Grey-capped Social Weaver, Holub’s Golden Weaver, Purple Grenadier and Brimstone Canary.

The Birds of the Nairobi Arboretums and Periferies
National Museums of Kenya & Nairobi Arboretum – the Museums offers a nice and quiet birding environment in her gardens and riverine vegetation. It also offers a chance to visit the Museum Galleries and the Snake Park. Both the National Museum and Nairobi Arboretum has very similar avifauna. Common birds at both sites are: Hamerkop, Marabou Stork, Hadada Ibis, Black Kite, Greater Sparrowhawk, Malachite Kingfisher, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Red-eyed Dove, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, African Pied Wagtail, Ruppell’s Robi-Chat, Olive Thrush, African Dusky and African Paradise Flycatchers, Blackcap, Singing Cisticola, Montane White-eye, White-bellied Tit, Common Fiscal, red-backed Shrike, Pieed Crow, Collared Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, Amethyst Sunbird, Baglafecht Weaver, Grosbeak Weaver, Holub’s Golden Weaver, Village Indigobird and African Citril. The Nairobi Arboretum has more forest habitat and therefore could produce forest species such as Lemon Dove, White-starred Robin, Cabanisi’s and Yellow-whiskered Greenbuls. The two sites are a few kilometers apart.

Bird Species of the Southern Aberdare Game Park
Kikuyu Escarpment Forest, forming the southern-most extent of the massive Aberdares, is situated some fifty kilometers northwest of Nairobi. Like other biologically important 59 sites in Kenya, it has been listed as an Important Bird Area. The forest offers species characteristic of the montane central Kenya highlands such Hunter’s Cisticola, Black-collared & Black-throated Apalis, Brwon-capepd Weaver, Narina & Bar-tailed Trogons, Thick-billed Seedeater, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Montane White-eye, Montane Oriole, Grey Cuckoo Shrike, Black-fronted Bush-shrike, Golden-winged Sunbird, Northern & Eastern Double-collared Sunbirds, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Mountain Greenbul, Orange Ground Thrush and African Hill Babbler. Abbott's Starling and the Sharpe's Starling, African Crowned Eagle and Red-chested Owlet have been recorded and may be seen.

The Birds of Limuru
Limuru Manguo Ponds occur as seasonally flooded pans along the Nairobi-Naivasha highway at Limuru. When there is sufficient water, some waterfowl such as African Spoonbill, Red-billed and Hottentot Teals, Cattle Egret, Yellow-billed Duck, Little Grebe, Hadada & Sacred Ibis, Red-knobbed Coot, Black-headed Heron, White-faced Whistling Duck and a variety of shorebirds such as Sandpipers, Greenshanks, Ruff and Plovers may occur. Maccoa Duck and Great Egret have also been recorded in the past and may be encountered.

Bird Life on the Kinangop Plateau
Kinangop Grasslands, also known as Kinangop Plateau, is unprotected montane grasslands in central Kenya on the eastern highlands of the Great Rift Valley. This wide stretch of land is bounded by the forest of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Mountains, Kikuyu Escarpment Forest to the east and south, and by a steep scarp dropping to the Rift Valley to the west. The area receives an average of 1000mm of precipitation annually. The grasslands host a number of grassland-dependent, farmlands and montane characteristic bird species. Examples of birds to see here is the globally-threatened and endemic Sharpe’s Longclaw and other grassland specialists such as Jackson’s & Long-tailed Widowbirds, Hunter’s Cisticola, Red-capped Lark and Yellow-throated Longclaw. Other species expected are; Brown Warbler, Nyanza Swift, Pallid Harrier, Tacazze, Bronze, Double-collared Sunbirds, Common Stonechat and Common Fiscal plus a number of waterfowls supported by numerous wetlands.

Ornithological Tours around Olorgesaillie Prehistoric Site
Olorgesaillie Prehistoric Site is a 21-hectares pre-historic site situated about 67km south of Nairobi. It is a field Museum developed in the 1940s to preserve hand axes and other tools. It offers species characteristic of dry country similar to what can be seen at Nairobi National Park with an additional species that tolerate very dry conditions. Additions include Lanner Falcon, Two-banded Courser, Black-faced Sandgrouse, Steel-blue Whydah, Gabar Goshawk, Beautiful Sunbird, Eastern Pale Chanting Goshawk and Bufff-crested Bustard. An additional reward of taking this option is the picturesque landscape one experiences between Nairobi and Ologesailie. There is a lot of birding a long the way.

Avifauna on the Outskirts of Nairobi
Lukenya (1o 28’ S, 35o 43’ E) is found on the outskirts of Nairobi off the main Nairobi-Mombasa highway some 40 kilometers south-east of the City. It’s an area of extensive pre-Cambrian rocky outcrops. The base of these crags has a thickly vegetated base surrounded by open grasslands with scattered trees and shrubs. It exhibits a savannah type of an ecosystem in the extensive Athi-Kapiti plains that starts from Nairobi National Park’s woodlands to the base of Mt Kilimanjaro. It is an area rich in wildlife and cattle ranching amidst human settlements. The base of the mountain’s thick vegetation attracts bush and woodland dependent avifauna characteristic of dry country such as Blue-napped Mousebird, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Nubian Woodpecker, African Penduline Tit, Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird, Speckle-fronted Weaver, Grey Silverbill and Purple Grenadier. The open plains attract a variety of birds of prey that also forages in the nearby Athi River Game Ranch and Nairobi National Park as well as in other Game Ranches in the area. Among the common raptors to see here are Egyptian Vulture, Peregrine Falcon, Verrauxe’s Eagle, Augur Buzzard and the Eastern Pale Chanting Goshawk and a good number of Pipits and Larks. On passage during their fall and spring migration are species such as Wheatears, Spotted Flycatcher, Common Rock Thrush, Shrikes and Warblers.

The Birds of Aberdares National Park
Aberdares National Park, also called Nyandarua Mountains, is one Kenya’s water towers found in central Kenya highlands and a site of great historical and cultural significance. It offers one of the most beautiful sceneries in additional to her highland forest avifauna, and forms the eastern wall of the Great Rift Valley running over 100km north to south starting close to Nairobi. There are numerous crystal clear streams, rivers and picturesque waterfalls, . In addition to her large populations of Elephants and Buffalos, one can expect to see birds characteristic of montane highland forest of central Kenya such as Black-throated Apalis, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Brown Parrot, Long-crested Eagle, Montane Greenbul, Ruppell’s Robin-Chat, Hunter’s Cisticola, Jackson’s Francolin, Alpine Chat, Baglafecht Weaver, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Northern Double-colored Sunbird, Brimstone Canary, Abyssinian Crimson-wing among others.

Birding Around Mount Kenya
Mt. Kenya Forest National Reserve: Mt Kenya is one of the world’s high altitude protected conservation areas. In deed, Mt Kenya’s twin summit peaks of Batian (5,199m) and Nelion (5,188) is Africa’s second highest point after Kilimanjaro. It is the nation’s namesake and has great biological, physical and cultural heritage significance in addition to being an important national water tower. It has also been listed as a biosphere reserve as well as a world heritage site. For scenery viewing visitors, climbing is unavoidable but for a birdwatcher, it’s recommended that you keep in lower altitudes within the forest reserve. In the western lower parts of the forest, once can find species such as Hunter’s Cisticola, African Pied Wagtail, Black-saw-wing, Common Fiscal, Yellow-crowned Canary, African Harrier Hawk, Brown Parrot, Great Blue-eared Starling, Long-crested Eagle, Tropical Boubou, Streaky Seedeater, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, White-bellied Tit, Black-colored Apalis, Egyptian Geese, Grey Cuckoo-Shrike, Greater Honeyguide, Black & White Casqued Hornbill, Variable Sunbird, Montane Oriole, White-headed Wood Hoopsoe, White-starred Robin, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, Brown-capped Weaver and Bronze Sunbird.

The Birds of Sweetwaters and Laikipia Ranches
Sweet Waters, Mpala Research Center & Mpala Ranch offers an early opportunity to see game and birds characteristic of north of the Equator particularly north-eastern part of Kenya. It’s at Mpala where several rivers gang up to form the Uaso Nyiro River that wanders through the expansive Laikipia Plateau to eastern Kenya north of Garisa at Lorian Swamp. Possible sightings are: Sulphur-breasted Bush-Shrike, Grey-headed Sparrow, Rattling Cisticola, Speckled Pigeon, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Von der Decken’s Hornbill, Red-billed Hornbill, White-bellied Go-away Bird, Superb Starling, Vitelline Masked Weaver, African Paradise Flycatcher, Yellow-rumped Seedeater, Purple Grenadier, Crowned Plover, Fischer’s Sparrow Lark, Yellow-billed Stork, Three-banded Plover, Hadada Ibis, Hoopoe, Isabelline Wheatear, Northern White-crownedd Shrike, Pygmy Falcon, Long-crested Eagle, Common Drongo, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Grey and Black-capped Social Weavers, Black-crowned Tchagra, Barn Swallow, Rosy-patched Bush-Shrike, Vulturine Guineafowl, Marico Sunbird, Bateleur, African Fish Eagle, Banded Parisoma, Crested and Hildebrandt’s Francolins.