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Everyone loves watching birds and listening to their songs. This
page however targets bird-enthusiasts that watch birds either
for hobby and/or professional publishing and classifying
studies.
Bird watching needs the instincts, patience and maneuvers of a hunter, as it is indeed hunting, where the camera replaces the rifle. More than 850 bird species are found in Ethiopia, of which about 33 are endemic.
Ethiopia’s diverse habitats, highlands, lowland, forests, lakes, wetlands and river-line systems provide sites for wintering or passage birds. Ethiopia therefore is truly an ornithological paradise that never disappoints bird lovers that traveled thousands of miles just to see their beloved specimen.
EET does not have professional Bird guides, as bird-guide training are not given locally.
Nevertheless, through accumulated experiences, our guides are now in a position to lead bird-watchers to the specific bird sites and achieve successful sightings of most of the endemics.
Although luck plays some role, the chances of successful viewing are increased by taking various factors such as location, climate, time of day and local vegetation changes into consideration.We have served quite a few professional bird-watchers that have toured round the globe in search of endemic birds. All of them have testified that their bird-watching experience in Ethiopia ranks among the best.
Note: Serious bird watchers such as those that would like to publish their sightings are advised to either bring a professional bird-guide with them or refer to the various documents published on the Internet on bird-watching in Ethiopia. There are also a number of well-written and well revised bird-books to refer to.
Bird Watching Itineraries
most bird watching itineraries are in the south of the country.
An itinerary in search of all of Ethiopia’s endemic birds would
take a minimum of 3 weeks, but shorter tour of about 10-15 days
which would guarantee seeing most of the endemics and several
hundred other species could be set up. For more, see the
'Birding Trips'
Main Bird Sites
Important bird Areas of Ethiopia, published by the
Ethiopian wildlife and natural history society, provides a list
of 69 sites, spread throughout the country, with much work in
identifying and classifying new sites still to be done. Thus,
for professionals studying birds, Ethiopia offers diverse
habitats not yet explored and published.
Mixing Bird-Watching with other Tours
although your main focus is birding, it is cost
effective to add or extension visits to the historic and/or
cultural sites.
Hence, if you want to extend your birding trips and indicate your preferences and additional vacation days for the extended trip.