Lying along the country’s eastern border with Tanzania, the 1,122 sq km Akagera National Park is Rwanda’s only savanna park that retains a true African wilderness and off-the-beaten track feel. With a checklist of over 500 bird species across its varied habitats, Akagera National Park is a bird haven and top ranking birding hotspot. The diversity of birds is due to the park’s geographic location at the confluence and transitional zones of Africa’s most bird-important biomes/habitats. Here, the expansive East African savanna grasslands and Zambezian miombo woodlands give way to the largest wetland system in Central East Africa. This extensive and complex wetland system consists a dozen lakes fed by river Kagera as it meanders through to drain north-east into Lake Victoria is an Important Bird Area (IBA) by Birdlife, protecting biome-restricted bird species.
Akagera National Park Bird Highlights
Birding tours at Akagera National Park follows well maintained tracks that explore, wetland fringed lakes, wooded hillsides and savanna plains where bird highlights include Papyrus Gonolek, White-winged Swamp Warbler, Blue-headed Coucal, Caruthers Cisticola, Northern Brown throated Weaver and more. The isolated northern wetlands of this park host a healthy population of the prehistoric Shoebill.
Birding through the broad-leafed wooded hillsides and grassland plains, highlights include several Zambezian biome restricted specialists at their northern range-limit here. These include; Long-tailed (Tabora) Cisticola, Southern Black Flycatcher, Miombo Wren Warbler, Souza’s Shrike, Ruaha Chat and the Red-faced Barbet, an East African endemic.
A birding boat cruise at Akagera National Park’s lakes, provide excellent list of waders and water associated specialists including the elusive African Finfoot that occurs on L. Ihema. Other papyrus associated specialists include; Goliath Heron, African Darter, Lesser Swamp Warbler, Black-crowned and White-backed Night Herons. But Great Cormorant, Saddle-billed Stork, Spur-winged Goose, Malachite and Pied Kingfishers, Swamp Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Stock, African Spoonbill, Marsh Tchagra, Fan-tailed Widowbird, Long-toed Lapwing, Lesser Moorhen occur and more. African Marsh Harrier, African Fish Eagle, seasonal Western Marsh Harrier and Osprey patrol the skies above these wetlands.
More Bird Highlights
The park’s extensive woodlands host Slate-coloured Boubou, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Greater Honeyguide, Narina Trogon, African Grey Hornbill, Stout Cisticola, and the elegant Lilac-breasted Roller. The broad-leafed hillsides host, Green-capped Eremomela, Cabani’s and Cinnamon-breasted Buntings, Green-winged Pytilia occur. The acacia woodlands host the Pearl-spotted Owlet, Green Woodhoopoe, Little Spotted, Golden-tailed and Bennett’s Woodpeckers, Spot-fanked Barbet, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, Crested Francolin, and more. Raptors are well represented in Bateleur, Black-chested and Brown Snake Eagles, Martial, Walberg, Bateleur and Tawny Eagles. Vultures include Griffon’s, White-backed, White-headed and Lappet-faced Vultures.
Birding along the short open grassland plains you pick up Collared Pratincole, Rufous-naped and Flappet Larks, Long-billed and Grassland Pipits along with Kittlitz’s Plover, Senegal and Wattled Lapwing. Yellow-throated Longclaw, Hildebrandt’s Spurfowl, Coqui and Crested Francolins.
A guided night birding drive is highly recommended to pick up nocturnal specialists including the Spotted and Verreaux’s Eagle-owls, Freckled and Black-shouldered Nightjars. The intra-African migrant Pennant-winged Nightjars occur in their full elegant plumages during the breeding season.
Getting To and Amenities at Akagera National Park
Akagera National Park lies only 120km east of the capital Kigali, a drive that should take about 2.5 hours, accessed through the park’s southern gate of Kayonza. The park’s northern gate of Nyungwe is exit-only. Excellent top quality accommodation plans are located within the park itself and on the edges of the park suitable for all budgets.
Best time to Bird in Akagera National Park
Akagera National Park is an-year-round birding destination. The park lie in a low-lying area, a contrast to Rwanda’s average landscape standard of towering highlands and receives average rains less that in the highlands. Akagera NP has dairy an average temperature of 25 0 C/77 0 F during the day falling to 16 0 C/61 0 F at night. The park experiences two annual wet seasons from October to earl December and a short one between March to early May where tracks require a 4WD vehicle especially near wetlands. The dry spell from June to September means vegetation is dry but more life near the water sources.