Ethiopia’s greatly diversified ecosystem makes it one of the richest Habitats in the horn of Africa for bird Tours and mammals.

Ethiopia’s greatly diversified ecosystem makes it one of the richest habitats in Africa for birdlife and mammals. With more than 865 species of birds, Ethiopia possesses about 8% of the world’s bird species, and about 35% of all African birds are found here. Among these, 14 species of birds are found only in Ethiopia. This is why Ethiopia is a must for bird enthusiasts.

In addition to the spectacular scenic mountain areas, many of Ethiopia’s highlands and Rift Valley lakes are safe havens for a large variety of birds. The northern part of the country such as the Simien Mountains National Park, Lake Tana, Lalibela, and the Tigray area – offers a great variety of birdlife And the Great Ethiopian Rift Valley area and the chain lakes of the Rift Valley -Zway, Langano, Abijata Shalla, Lake Chamo – are some of the most important birding sites in Ethiopia.

Further south, in the southwestern parts of the country, around the Omo River, Mago, and Omo National Park, and most of the places all the way to the Kenyan border are amazing sites for bird watching. The Awash National Park and the Bale Mountains National Park in the eastern part of the country are really paradises and exciting places for birding and wildlife viewing with many endemic birds

Our bird-watching tours are led by our expert birding and nature tour guides and are carefully designed to enable you to spot as many bird species and mammals as possible.

Below are some of our bird-watching tours, which can be customized to your specific interests. If you haven’t found what you are looking for, please contact us through address our friendly experts will be more than happy to help you plan an unforgettable bird-watching tours

This birding holiday will enable you to view a significant number of Ethiopian birds. On this tour, will have the chance to spot some of Ethiopia’s endemic birds and mammals as we explore some of the breathtaking landscapes including Jemma River Gorge, the Sululta Plains, the Rift Valley lakes. Wondo Guenet Forest, and the magnificent Bale Mountains, where more than 10 of these endemic birds are found. Although this is a bird watching tour, we will also have the opportunity to spot different endemic mammals =enjoy Ethiopian endemic birdlife including endemic mammals such us mountain nyala, Ethiopian wolf, Gelada baboon, explore Bale mountain, great Ethiopian rift valley lakes, Jemmar river gorge, experience breathtaking adventure and nature landscapes,Wondo Genat protected community forest come to enjoy Ethiopian culture all our tours led by a professional expert, guide experienced ornithologist.

Itinerary

Day 1: Addis Ababa, Debre Libanos 

On arrival, our tour guide, a driver from the company enjoy you at the airport. Then you will continue to have Ethiopian coffee and breakfast before heading towards Debre Libanos. The key birds Abyssinia woodpecker, banded barbet, white bucked black Tit, white-winged cliff chat, supplies black chat, Lammergerie, steppe eagle  Flocks of Hooded Vultures and Black Kites will be wheeling overhead and we should see  White-Collared Pigeon, Tacazze Sunbirds, Baglafecht Weavers, and Streaky Seedeaters. After breakfast this morning, we will cross the Sululta Plains. These high-altitude plateau grasslands provide superb birding, despite intensive cultivation.

Resident birds we may find here include the Secretary Bird, White-Backed Vulture, African Hobby, Erckel’s Francolin, Red-Chested Swallow, Cape Crow, Pectoral-Patch Cisticola, and African Quail Finch. Suddenly, the seemingly endless plain dramatically drops off into the Blue Nile drainage system. Perched on the edge of the gorge is the Debre Libanos Monastery, one of Ethiopia’s most sacred Christian sites. We will concentrate our search here for Rappel’s Vulture, Verreaux’s Eagle, the African Hawk-Eagle, Augur Buzzard (dark-morph birds are commonly seen here), Lanner Falcon, Nyanza Swift, Hemprich’s Hornbill, the three endemic birds the White-winged Cliff-chat, and the White-Billed Starling — Mocking Cliff-Chat, the Yellow-Rumped Serin, and the Cinnamon-Breasted Bunting. You may also see the Lion-Headed Baboon in this area.

Overnight at the lodge

Day 2: Debre Libanos, Sululta

We will leave early in the morning in order to look for the highly localized endemic Harwood’s Francolin.
We will likely spot it around down by Jemma Gorge. For the rest of the day, we will explore terrestrial birding and drive to Sululta town overnight. key birds around  Sululta plain common species include wattled ibis, red chested  swallow, banded martin, moorland chat, black-headed siskin, 

Overnight: at the one popular Village Resort or back Addis

Day 3: Sululta, Awash

Sululta Plain is known for its abundance of birds. This morning, we will look for Ethiopia’s endemic species: the Abyssinian Longclaw, Rouget’s rail, Erlanger’s Lark, Ethiopian Siskin, Wattled Ibis, and Spot-Breasted Plover. Continue to Awash National Park, stopping to look for the bird’s route.

Overnight: at the lodge

Day 4: Awash

Today will be spent exploring the superb Awash National Park. We will discover  around the Alleghedi Reserve and Doho Lodge with its hot springs, the Awash River, and Kirayawa Gorge, exploring riverine forests, wetlands, thorn woodlands, savanna grasslands, rocky hills, cliffs, and viewpoint

The park boasts a bird list of 430 species and we will make an effort to find, amongst many others, the Egyptian Vulture, Greater Spotted Eagle, Scissor-Tailed Kite, Shikra, Arabian, Buff-Crested, Hartlaub’s and White-Bellied Bustards, Three-Banded Courser, Helmeted Guinea Fowl, Small Buttonquail, Eastern Grey Plantain-Eater, White-Browed Coucal, Plain Nightjar, Northern Carmine Bee-Eater, Greater Honeyguide, Wire-Tailed Swallow, Red-Winged Lark, Singing Bush Lark, Blackstar, Red-Backed Scrub-Robin, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Green-Backed Camaroptera, Grey-Headed Batis, Pale Flycatcher, Slate-Colored Boubou, White-Rumped Shrike, Somali Fiscal, Nile Valley and Marico Sunbirds, Grey-Headed and Sulphur-Breasted Bush Shrikes, Fan-Tailed Raven, Red-Billed Quelea, and Red-Rumped Waxbill.

Mammals we may see include the Aardwolf, Beisa Oryx, Aardvark, Soemmering’s Gazelle, Hamadryas Baboon, Abyssinian Hare, African Wild Cat, Black-Backed Jackal, Spotted Hyena, and Greater and Lesser Kudu. We will also take a night drive to look for the more elusive nocturnal species.

Overnight: Awash Lodge

Day 5: Awash, Langano

We will depart early and head south, towards the Great Rift Valley lakes, and make our first birding stop around the Lake Beseka crater, then at the artificial Lake Koka. We will have lunch and birding stop at Lake Ziway where the surrounding lake teems with birds, and we will look for flocks of approachable Black-Winged Lovebirds, Blue-breasted Bee-Eaters, White-Faced Whistling Ducks, Hottentot Teals, Great White Pelicans, Black Herons, Black-Billed Barbet, Rufous-necked Wryneck, African Yellow Warbler, Rüppell’s Robin-Chat, Black-Headed Batis, Beautiful Sunbirds, and Rüppell’s Weaver.

We will also visit Koka Dam and Lake Ziway. Here we will search for the Pink-Backed Pelican, Great White Pelican, Intermediate Egret, African Darter, Goliath Heron, Hamerkop, Yellow-Billed Stork, Saddle-billed Stork, Spur-Winged Goose, Egyptian Goose, Comb Duck, African Pygmy Goose, African Fish Eagle, Black-Crowned Crane, African Jacana, Lesser Jacana, Senegal Thick-Knee, Spur-Winged Lapwing, Pied and Malachite Kingfishers, and Winding Cisticola. After lunch, we continue to Lake Langano and to our lodge.

Overnight: nary the lake Lodge

Day 6: Langano

Birding along the western shore of Lake Langano is very productive makes wonderfully introduction to the east African and   explore the ecology grounds all day for Sulfur-Breasted Bush-Shrike, Northern Puff Back, Black Shrike, Yellow-shouldered Shrike, Common Red Start, Slender-Tailed Night Jar, Senegal Thick Knees, Abyssinian Ground Thrush, red-throated wryneck, red front barbet, etc

Overnight: Lake Langano

Day 7: Langano, Bale

In the morning, we head towards the world-famous Bale Mountains National Park. On our arrival At the park headquarters Brief break then we will continue to search for endemic and common birds of the areas such as Abyssinia catbirds, white-backed black tit, Chestnut-Napped Francolin, Ground Scraper Thrush, Abyssinia owl, African wood owl, Abyssinian Ground-Thrush, Abyssinian Catbird, and the endemic White-Backed Black-Tit. We also hope to see a variety of mammals including Mountain Nyala, Menelik’s Bushbuck, and common Warthog reedbuck, and Enjoy walking through natural forest  

Overnight: Goba Shebele Hotel

Day 8: Bale Mountain – Senettie Plateau, Harenna Forest (part of the national park)

Early the morning before the sun rising leaves your hotel to continue driving through Goba community forest and stop for endemic birds at the small natural forest then up the Bale Mountain massif onto the Senetti Plateau, which lies between 3800 m and 4377 m above sea level. As we ascend, we will enter dense or juniper forest zone. Here we will search for endemic birdlife, Abyssinia woodpecker, Abyssinia crimsoning,    Rufous-Chested Sparrow Hawk, African Hill Babbler, Abyssinian Woodpecker, Cinnamon Bracken-Warbler, Montane White-Eye, and Yellow-Bellied Waxbill. Once we reach this unique plateau, we will be driving on Africa’s highest road, passing close to the summit of Ethiopia’s second-highest mountain. This habitat is termed ‘Afro-Alpine moorland’ and is characterized by giant lobelias, which tower over the rich tussock grasslands. This site is an important bird area of immense significance, supporting seven globally threatened species and nearly all of Ethiopia’s highland biome species.

If we are very lucky we will see a pair of endangered Wattled Cranes striding through the moist grassland, or spot a Cape Eagle-Owl sunning on a rocky perch. We will also search for Wattled Ibis, Lammergeyer, Moorland Francolin, Rouget’s Rail, Spot-Breasted Lapwing, Thekla Lark, Red-throated Pipit, Red-Breasted Wheatear, and Moorland Chat. The grasslands are estimated to support amazing biomass of 4000 kg of rodents per hectare.

This obviously attracts raptors, and we should see Steppe Eagles, Golden Eagles, and Pallid Harriers courting over this green sea. They share this abundant food source with the plateau’s most celebrated resident, the Ethiopian Wolf, the world’s rarest canid. Finally, we will reach the escarpment of this elevated plateau and stare down through the clouds at the vast Harenna Forest below. This is the largest intact forest block in Ethiopia and the largest protected Afro-Alpine forest on the continent. It still supports populations of Lion and the only surviving forest-dwelling African Wild Dogs. Here, we will search for the uncommon Mountain Buzzard, Lemon Dove, Tambourine Dove, African Emerald Cuckoo, Narina Trogon, Brown Woodland-Warbler, subspecies endemic to this national park are  Abyssinian Crimson-Wing, African Citril, and yellow Canary. In the afternoon, we will return across the Senetti Plateau to Goba.

Overnight: Goba Shebele Hotel

Day 9: Bale, Awassa

Today we will drive 180km lunch at the one of best rift valley resort side to the lake, then continue to descend 1500 m to enjoy warm central Rift Valley. Here we will be exploring for aquatic bird species along Lake Awassa and depending on time continue a boat trip to see hippopotamus and birdlife

Overnight:  at one of the best hotel

Day 10: Awassa, Addis Ababa

Today we should early the morning to look for very impotent birds of the areas, malachite kingfisher, giant kingfisher and we scan the ground of best hotel for the Spotted Creeper, Red-Throated Wryneck, African emerald cuckoos, Nubian woodpecker and   African Pigmy Goose, White-Backed Duck, and Blue-Headed Coucal then we go buck for the breakfast after we take a short drive to a fish market on the shore of Lake Awassa.  Continue our journey to Addis Ababa stop en route to look for birds and lunch, in the evening, farewell dinner at one of the traditional restaurants to enjoy cultural food and dancing finally transfer to the airport at the end of tours.