Birding Cherangani Hills in Western Kenya
Looking for birding safari tour in Cherangani Hills western Kenya? Well Cherangani Hills are fault-block formation of non-volcanic origin, located in the western edge of great rift valley. To the east of the hills, we find the beautiful Elgeyo Escarpment that drops abruptly to floor of the Kerio Valley, while western part falls away gently to Trans-Nzoia plains. The Cherangani Hills rise upto 3,365 m at the peak of Cheptoket in the north-central area.
The hills are covered by a number of forest Reserves including Kapkanyar, Kapolet and Kiptaberr Forest Reserves that form a large western block of forest and Embotut, Kerrer, Kaisungor, Chemurokoi, Lelan, Cheboit, Kupkunurr, Toropket, Sogotio and Kapchemutwa in the eastern side. All those forests offer great opportunities for birding and other tourist activities in Cherangani Hills.
The Cherangani forests are significant water catchment areas, and sit astride the watershed between the Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana basins. Different streams feed the Nzoia river system, which flow into Lake Victoria and river Kerio.
Cherangani Hills is one of the important Bird Areas (IBA) in Kenya and birding activities can be done throughout the year however the best time to visit these hills for birdwatching is during November to April when migratory birds from Europe and North Africa are present.
The following are bird species in Cherangani Hills that you can spot during your birding tour in Kenya;
Montane Nightjar
Scarce Swift
Nyanza Swift
Hartlaub’s Turaco
Mountain Buzzard
Bar-tailed Trogon
Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater
Moustached Green Tinkerbird
Fine-banded Woodpecker
Mountain Oriole
Grey Cuckooshrike
Doherty’s Bush-shrike
White-tailed Crested-flycatcher
White-browed Crombec
Black-collared Apalis
Chestnut-throated Apalis
Hunter’s Cisticola
Chubb’s Cisticola
Mountain Yellow Warbler
Cinnamon Bracken-warbler
Eastern Mountain Greenbul
Brown Woodland-warbler
Brown Warbler
African Hill-babbler
Zosterops poliogastrus
Mountain Illadopsis
Slender-billed Starling
Waller’s Starling
Sharpe’s Starling
Stuhlmann’s Starling
Abyssinian Ground-thrush
White-eyed Slaty-flycatcher
White-starred Robin
Equatorial Akalat
Little Rock-thrush
Moorland Chat
Tacazze Sunbird
Bronze Sunbird
Eastern Double-collared Sunbird
Golden-winged Sunbird
Northern Double-collared Sunbird
Baglafecht Weaver
Black-billed Weaver
Brown-capped Weaver
Abyssinian Crimsonwing
Oriole Finch
Yellow-browed
Thick-billed Seedeater
Streaky Seedeater
