Eastern Kenya: Amboseli, Taita Hills, and Coastal Specials

Our 13-day Eastern Kenya: Amboseli, Taita Hills, and Coastal Specials tour focuses on the special birds and mammals of this diverse region of Kenya. From a global listing perspective, this tour offers opportunities for four Kenyan endemics (we target the other five gettable endemics on our Western and Central Kenya tour): the “Taita trio” of Taita Thrush, Taita Apalis, and Taita White-eye, as well as the scarce Kilifi Weaver. In addition to the endemics, we search for dozens of other sought-after and challenging species, including Sokoke Scops Owl, Sokoke and Malindi Pipits, Fischer’s Turaco, Pangani Longclaw, Mombasa Woodpecker, Green Tinkerbird, and Amani Sunbird, as well as an assemblage of other classic East African species.

Von der Decken’s Hornbill should be seen during our time at Amboseli National Park.

Kenya owes its incredible avifaunal diversity to its equally impressive array of habitats. These range from humid tropical lowland forests with localized denizens such as Sokoke Scops Owl near the idyllic Indian Ocean coastline (which boasts Crab-plover) to snow-capped mountains at over 16,000 feet (5,000 meters) above sea level! Between the sea and the high mountains lie vast, arid savannas and grasslands, famous for their massive herds of migrating wildlife and an unbelievable array of dazzling birds.

We may be lucky enough to encounter Crab-plover along the Indian Ocean coastline.

The country boasts an impressive list of over 1,162 bird species. As alluded to in the opening paragraph, ten of these species are endemic to Kenya. However, only nine are currently obtainable, as Tana River Cisticola has not been recorded since the 1970s. Endemics aside, Kenya has several near-endemic species that are shared only with its neighbors, notably Tanzania and Ethiopia. No fewer than 62 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) have been identified in Kenya, and some of the most famous parks in the world, such as the Maasai Mara and Amboseli, are located in this country.