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Bird watching around Rwanda

Friday June 24 2016
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A group of double-crested cormorant at Lake Karago in the northwest of Rwanda. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA

Rwanda’s most common tourist attraction are gorillas, but did you know there are over 700 bird species in the country?

According to Birdlife International, Rwanda has a current count of seven important birding areas (IBAs) that include three national parks: Nyungwe, Akagera and the Volcanoes National Park. The other areas are swamps, namely, Rugezi swamp, in Northern Province, Akanyaru swamp, Nyabarongo swamp, and Cyamudongo, which is part of the Nyungwe National Park but is considered a separate bird area due to the presence of so many birds there.

“Rwanda is in the Albertine rift and so there are 30 bird species that are endemic to our region,” said Télesphore Ngoga, Transfrontier Conservation analyst.

“Birds are good indicators of the climate, pollinators of what we eat, and they are symbolic totems in our culture. There are unique breeds where the beauty is seen in males rather than in females,” said David Mugisha, a bird watcher.

“The grey count crane known locally as umusambi is a totem for the Abanyiginya clan,” said Mr Ngoga.

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A crane in Rubavu District. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA

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Ideally, the best time to go bird watching is early in the morning and late in the evening.

Visakh Nambiar, an expatriate from India and a photographer with a passion for birds said: “Initially I used to do wildlife photography but after coming to Rwanda in 1998, I developed a love for bird photography.” Mr Nambiar features his photographs on his website and Facebook page.

“The reason is basically that you can see a number of bird species in quite a short time as compared with other places and that intrigued me,” said the photographer, who has a bird-feeder in his home that he uses to attract the birds. His website, www.vysakhrnambiar.com/birds-1 and his Facebook page “Ifoto” are a sight for bird-lover’s sore eyes.

Rwanda Today’s Cyril Ndegeya is also involved in wildlife photography in his free time and especially enjoys bird photography.

On a recent photo excursion at a marshland down at the Inyange Industries in Masaka, on the outskirts of Kigali, we saw fishing birds and pollinating birds.

“Bird watchers need to have a keen eye and if you are taking photos, have good equipment. You will also need clothes that blend in with the surroundings in order not to scare away the birds,” said Mr Ndegeya.

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