Ultimate Guided Congo Bird Watching Tours And Safaris

The Ultimate Congo Bird Watching Tours And Safaris with the Local experts.

Due to its diverse habitats and abundant woods, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a top destination for bird watching tours. These forests are home to a large number of species that are unique to central Africa and the Albertine Rift. The eastern region of the Congo, specifically Virunga and Kahuzi-Biege National Parks, is where Kabira Safaris & Tours Africa organizes bird watching safaris. Besides birds, you can expect to see primates and other wildlife on the birding expeditions, which will immerse you in the forest environment.

As a result of its rich biodiversity, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is considered one of the top places in Africa to go birding, with an estimated 1,139 species of birds, the majority of which are native to the region. Various sources provide differing estimates of the overall number of bird species, therefore the exact number is unknown. Forests, savannahs, wetlands, rivers, and lakes are the most common places to go birdwatching in the Congo.

The Congo is home to a wide variety of bird species, including the Pale-breasted illadopsis, Chapin’s mountain-babbler, the Uganda woodland-warbler, and many more. Oxidized sterling Southern thrush, Common flycatcher, Malimbe with a black neck, feathered firefinch, The yellow-billed barbet, the grey-throated barbet, Eastern sunbird, Drongo has a glossy back, Sunbirds of Rockefeller, Greenbulls of Prigogines, River martins of Africa, Indigobird of Cameroon Reichard’s seedeater, Fuelleborn’s longclaw This bunting is golden-breasted. African peafowl, Congo bay owl, Turacos of the Schalow and yellow-billed varieties Malkoha blue, Coucal with coppery tails, Extremely venomous bushshrike, A paradise-flycatcher native to Bedford, The fiscal region in the north, African crow, Hyliota with a violet back, Thicket with two breasts, endangered species of lark, Corona crimbec, the chestnut-headed flufftail, the long-tailed nightjar, and the brown-nightjar Distinct thicknee spots Pistachio, Brown-chested lapwing, Pelican Little stint, Sandpiper of wood, The pratincole with bronze wings, Tern with whiskers, Buzzard and mountain birds Serpent-Eagle of the Congo, Rare and endangered species of micebirds and trogons Woodland woodhoopoe, kingfishers with white bellies, red-billed dwarf hornbills, Beautiful bee-eater with a rosy hue, Roller with a racket-tail Very little honeyguide, Flock hawk, Among these are the following: the Zitting cisticola, the Marsh warbler, the Square-tailed sawwing, the Pale-olive greenbul, the Retz’s helmetshrike, the Black-tailed oriole, the Chinspot batis, and many more.

An old acquaintance on the hunt – Spectacular wildlife on the Congo River

Taking Birdwatching to the Extreme

Birding in Congo-Brazzaville

Congo-Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, or simply the Congo, is a nation in Central Africa. It lies between 4°N and 5°S, 11° and 19°E, in the central-western region of sub-Saharan Africa, on the Equator. The Democratic Republic of the Congo lies to its east and south. Cameroon and the Central African Republic form its northern border, Cabinda (Angola) its southwestern one, and Gabon its western one. The coastline along the Atlantic Ocean is rather short.

The area was inhabited by Bantu-speaking tribes who established trade routes that connected to the basin of the Congo River. France colonized Equatorial Africa, which included Congo-Brazzaville. The Republic of the Congo was established in 1960, when the former French colony of the Congo gained its independence. From 1970 until 1991, the People’s Republic of the Congo was a one-party Marxist-Leninist state. Since 1992, multi-party elections have taken place; however, President Denis Sassou Nguesso has governed for 33 of the previous 38 years, and the Republic of the Congo Civil War of 1997 deposed a democratically elected administration.

Despite its infrastructure’s and public services’ dismal state and the uneven distribution of oil revenues, the Republic of the Congo was able to enjoy relative prosperity thanks to its stable government and growing hydrocarbon production. The country ranked fourth in the Gulf of Guinea for oil production.

Across the Congo River from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, situated in the southern part of the country.

The Kouilou-Niari River drains the coastal plain in the southwest of the country, while a central plateau is in the interior, sandwiched between two basins to the south and north. The pressure to exploit forests is growing.

The country’s location on the Equator ensures a constant climate all year round. Daytime highs are often a humid 24 °C (75 °F), while nighttime lows range from 16 °C (61 °F) to 21 °C (70 °F). In the southern Niari Valley, the annual rainfall averages 1,100 millimeters (43 in), whereas in the center regions of the country it exceeds 2,000 millimeters (79 in). The months of June through August constitute the dry season, while the bulk of the nation has two peaks in rainfall during the wet season: one from March to May and another from September to November.

The Sangha Region’s Ouesso district was the focus of a 2006–2007 study by the Wildlife Conservation Society on gorillas in densely wooded areas. Their numbers point to a population of 125,000 Western Lowland Gorillas, who have remained mostly uncontacted by humans due to the harsh conditions of their native swamps.

Number of bird Species: 728

Congo Important Bird Areas

There is a lack of comprehensive documentation of the Congo’s avifauna, and significant portions of the country, such as the Chaillu massif and the Likouala swamp-forests, have not been thoroughly investigated. Migratory waterbirds avoid seasonal flooded forests, the most common type of wetland, and inland and coastal mudflats are tiny. Overwhelmingly, the country’s location on the southern boundary of the Guinea-Congo forest block renders it insignificant as a haven for wandering species.

Here are the Important Bird Areas in Congo

• Odzala-Kokoua National Park (NP), Ntokou-Pikounda NP, Nouabalé-Ndoki NP and Dimonika Biosphere Reserve for lowland forest species including Olivaceous Flycatcher, Olive-backed Forest Robin and most other taxa of interest listed above as well as Hartlaub’s Duck, Latham’s Francolin, Sabine’s Spinetail, Cassin’s Spinetail, Great Blue Turaco, Guinea Turaco, Blue Malkoha, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, Afep Pigeon, Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Blue-headed Wood Dove, White-spotted Flufftail, Grey-throated Rail, Nkulengu Rail, Forbes’s Plover, Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle, Long-tailed Hawk, Red-thighed Sparrowhawk, Fraser’s Eagle-Owl, Akun Eagle-Owl, Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill, White-thighed Hornbill, Black-casqued Hornbill, Western Dwarf Hornbill, Eastern Dwarf Hornbill, Blue-throated Roller, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, African Dwarf Kingfisher, White-bellied Kingfisher, Black Bee-eater, Speckled Tinkerbird, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, Cassin’s Honeybird, Willcocks’s Honeyguide, Least Honeyguide, Spotted Honeyguide, Buff-spotted Woodpecker, Brown-eared Woodpecker, Yellow-crested Woodpecker, Fiery-breasted Bushshrike, Sabine’s Puffback, African Shrike-flycatcher, Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher, Blue Cuckooshrike, Western Oriole, Black-winged Oriole, Shining Drongo, Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Dusky Crested Flycatcher, Western Nicator, Slender-billed Greenbul, Golden Greenbul, Red-tailed Bristlebill, Spotted Greenbul, Swamp Palm Bulbul, Simple Greenbul, Honeyguide Greenbul, Red-tailed Greenbul, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, Plain Greenbul, Little Grey Greenbul, Ansorge’s Greenbul, White-throated Greenbul, Icterine Greenbul, Red-tailed Leaflove, Grey Longbill, Green Crombec, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Green Hylia, Tit Hylia, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Olive-green Camaroptera, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Violet-backed Hyliota, Purple-headed Starling, Splendid Starling, Chestnut-winged Starling, Fire-crested Alethe, Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher, White-browed Forest Flycatcher, Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher, Cassin’s Flycatcher, Little Grey Flycatcher, Dusky-blue Flycatcher, Tessmann’s Flycatcher, Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat, Little Green Sunbird, Reichenbach’s Sunbird, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Tiny Sunbird, Johanna’s Sunbird, Superb Sunbird, Orange Weaver, Yellow-mantled Weaver, Blue-billed Malimbe, Red-headed Malimbe, Crested Malimbe, White-breasted Nigrita, Chestnut-breasted Nigrita, Grey-headed Nigrita, Pale-fronted Nigrita, Western Bluebill and Black-bellied Seedcracker.
• Lésio-Louna and Léfini Reserves on the Batéké Plateaux for wooded grassland species including Finsch’s Francolin, Congo Moor Chat and Black-chinned Weaver as well as Helmeted Guineafowl, Denham’s Bustard, Black-bellied Bustard, Temminck’s Courser, Lilac-breasted Roller, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Miombo Pied Barbet, Chinspot Batis, White-winged Black Tit, Grey Penduline Tit, Tinkling Cisticola, Neddicky, Pale-crowned Cisticola, Wing-snapping Cisticola, Green-capped Eremomela, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow, Black-winged Red Bishop, White-winged Widowbird, Red-collared Widowbird and Plain-backed Pipit.
• Conkouati-Douli National Park and Kouilou Basin for African River Martin and Loango Weaver as well as White-browed Coucal, West African Crested Tern, Damara Tern, Pink-backed Pelican, Swamp Boubou, Rosy Bee-eater, Red-capped Robin-Chat, Mangrove Sunbird, Carmelite Sunbird and Lesser Masked Weaver.
• Brazzaville area for Congo River species including Congo Martin and Bob-tailed Weaver as well as African Skimmer, Rufous-tailed Palm Thrush and Slender-billed Weaver.
• Lac Télé Community Reserve for Congo Sunbird and Weyns’s Weaver

Congo Birding Trip Reports

2010 [09 September] – Sjef Öllers – Cameroon, Congo and Central African Republic
…The birding had many ups and down: not seeing bare-cheeked trogon, Sangha robin and rufous-sided broadbill was very disappointing, but we had excellent views of Congo serpent eagle, African finfoot and many hornbill species. Undoubtedly, the birding highlight of the tour was a trip into unexplored territory with Rod Cassidy. At a magical place in the rainforest with a cascading waterfall and several steep rock faces we found an unknown and active breeding site for red-headed picathartes with at least seven active nests. We had unforgettable views of these near-mythical forest birds…

Guard Karl telling us about birds in Odzala National Park