One of Nakuru’s greatest attractions is its birds, and this is a common stop for specialist Birding safaris.
Apart from the obvious Greater and Lesser Flamingo, species of interest recorded here include many Great White Pelican and Black necked and Little Grebe, as well as rare Martial Eagle, Lesser Kestrel and Madagascar Squacco Heron.
Turkana is also an important bird area, frequently visited by specialist Birding safaris. Species of interest recorded here include large populations of Pink backed Pelican, Greater Flamingo, Sur winged Plover and the Little Stint as well as rare species such as the Saddle billed Stork, Banded Snake Eagle and the African Skimmer.
Lake Turkana region is home to hundreds of species of birds native to Kenya and is also an important flyway passage and stopover for Palearctic (denoting a zoogeographical region consisting of Europe, Africa north of the Sahara, and most of Asia north of the Himalayas ) migrant birds. The birds are essentially supported by plankton masses in the lake, which also feed the fish. A total of 84 water bird species, including 34 Palearctic migrants, have been recorded here.
There are several excellent birding areas around Lake Victoria. The Main areas of interest are the swamps at Kusa, Koguta and Dunga and within Ruma National Park. The Swamps are one of last refuges of the endangered Papyrus Gonolek and Papyrus Yellow Warbler, while Ruma is the only place in Kenya where the migratory Blue Swallow has been sighted.
