Kenya's Rift Valley includes four major national parks--Lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, Mount Longonot, and Hell's Gate--as well as many smaller areas that are outstanding for wildlife. Birds of Kenya's Rift Valley features the 320 bird species that are most likely to be encountered on safari in this world-famous region, which runs from Lake Baringo in the north to Lake Magadi in the south. Featuring over 500 stunning color photos, this beautiful guide breaks new ground with its eye-catching layout and easy-to-use format. The book follows a habitat-based approach and provides interesting information about the ecology and behaviors of each species. Birds of Kenya's Rift Valley avoids technical jargon in the species descriptions, which makes the guide easily accessible to anyone. With it, you will be identifying birds in no time.

About this book 9The geography of Kenya's Rift Valley 13Lakes and marsh 14Up in the air 16Birds of prey 17Grassland and open areas 18Woodland, scrub & garden 20Nightbirds 22Maps of the Rift Valley 23
BIRDS OF LAKE AND MARSHPelicans - Great White and Pink-backed Pelicans 26Darter and cormorants - African Darter and Reed and Great Cormorants 28Egrets - Yellow-billed, Little and Great White Egrets 30Small herons - Cattle Egret and Squacco and Striated Herons 32Grey herons - Black-crowned Night-heron and Grey and Black-headed Herons 34Dark herons and Hamerkop - Goliath and Purple Herons and Hamerkop 36Dark storks - Abdim's, Black and African Open-billed Storks 38White storks - Saddle-billed, White and Yellow-billed Storks 40Spoonbill and Marabou - African Spoonbill and Marabou Stork 42Flamingos - Greater and Lesser Flamingos 44Ibises - Sacred, Glossy and Hadada Ibises 46Crane and whistling ducks - Grey Crowned Crane and Fulvous and White-faced Whistling Ducks 48Geese - Spur-winged and Egyptian Goose and Knob-billed Duck 50Ducks: 1 - Cape, Hottentot and Red-billed Teal 52Ducks: 2 - Southern Pochard, Northern Shoveler and Yellow-billed Duck 54Grebe, coot and moorhen - Little Grebe, Red-knobbed Coot and Common Moorhen 56Gallinule, crake and jacana - Purple Swamphen, Black Crake and African Jacana 58Ruff, painted-snipe and snipe - Ruff, Greater Painted-snipe and Common Snipe 60Avocet, stilt and godwit - Pied Avocet, Black-winged Stilt and Black-tailed Godwit 62Thick-knees - Spotted, Water and Senegal Thick-knees 64Small plovers - Chestnut-banded, Three-banded, Kittlitz's and Common Ringed Plovers 66Sandpipers - Wood, Common and Green Sandpipers 68Waders - Little Stint, Common Greenshank and Marsh Sandpiper 70Plovers - Blacksmith, Crowned and Spur-winged Plovers 72Plover and gull - African Wattled Plover and Grey-headed Gull 74Terns - White-winged Black, Gull-billed and Whiskered Terns 76Kingfishers - Malachite, Giant and Pied Kingfishers 78Wagtails - Yellow, Mountain and African Pied Wagtails 80UP IN THE AIRDark-rumped swifts - Mottled, African Palm, Alpine, Common and Nyanza Swifts 82White-rumped swifts - Little, Horus and White-rumped Swifts 84Resident swallows - Mosque , Red-rumped, Lesser Striped and Wire-tailed Swallows 86Swallows and martins - Barn Swallow and Plain, Banded and Rock Martins 88

BIRD OF PREYVultures - Rüppell's, White-backed, Hooded and Lappet-faced Vultures 90Vultures in flight - all species for comparison plus Verreaux's Eagle 92Large pied eagles and buzzard - Martial and African Fish Eagles and Augur Buzzard 94Large dark eagles - Verreaux's, Steppe and Tawny Eagles 96Medium-sized brown raptors - Black Kite, Common Buzzard and Long-crested Eagle 98Raptors in flight - all large species for comparison 100Harriers - Pallid, Montagu's and Western Marsh Harriers 102Goshawk, Bateleur and Harrier Hawk- Dark Chanting Goshawk, Bateleur and African Harrier Hawk 104Small pale raptors - Gabar Goshawk, - African Black-shouldered Kite and Pygmy Falcon 106Falcons - Eurasian Hobby, Lanner Falcon and Common Kestrel 108

BIRDS OF GRASSLAND AND OPEN AREASOstrich and Southern Ground Hornbill - Ostrich and Southern Ground Hornbill 110Bustard and gamebirds- Black-bellied Bustard, Yellow-necked Spurfowl and Helmeted Guineafowl 112Coursers and plover - Heuglin's and Temminck's Coursers and Black-headed Plover 114Larks - Rufous-naped, Red-capped and Pink-breasted Larks 116Lark, pipit and longclaw - Fischer's Sparrow Lark, Grassland Pipit and Yellow-throated Longclaw 118Resident chats - Northern Anteater Chat and Capped and Abyssinian Wheatears 120Migrant chats - Northern and Pied Wheatears and Whinchat 122Crows - Cape Rook, Pied Crow and Fan-tailed Raven 124Widowbirds - Long-tailed and Red-collared Widowbirds 126Widowbird and bishops - Jackson's Widowbird and Northern Red and Yellow Bishops 128Cisticolas and Quailfinch - Winding, Stout and Desert Cisticolas and African Quailfinch 130

BIRDS OF WOODS, SCRUB AND GARDENFrancolins - Scaly, Crested and Hildebrandt's Francolins 132Pigeons and doves - Laughing Dove and Speckled and African Olive Pigeons 134'Collared' doves - African Mourning, Red-eyed and Ring-necked Doves 136Namaqua and wood doves - Namaqua and Blue-spotted and Emerald-spotted Wood Doves 138Green pigeon and parrots - African Green Pigeon, Meyer's Parrot and hybrid lovebird 140Large cuckoos and relatives- Red-chested Cuckoo, White-browed Coucal and White-bellied Go-away-bird 142

BIRDS OF WOODLAND, SCRUB AND GARDEN (continued)Green cuckoos and wood-hoopoe - Klaas's and Diederik Cuckoos and Green Wood-hoopoe 144Hoopoe and mousebirds - Hoopoe and Blue-naped and Speckled Mousebirds 146Kingfishers - Striped, Woodland and Grey-headed Kingfishers 148Bee-eaters: 1 - White-throated, Blue-cheeked and Eurasian Bee-eaters 150Bee-eaters: 2 - White-fronted, Cinnamon-chested and Little Bee-eaters 152Rollers - Rufous-crowned, Lilac-breasted and Eurasian Rollers 154Hornbills: 1 - Von der Decken's, Jackson's and Red-billed Hornbills 156Hornbills: 2 - Hemprich's, Eastern Yellow-billed and African Grey Hornbills 158Barbets: 1 - Red-and-yellow, D'Arnaud's and Red-fronted Barbets 160Barbets: 2 - White-headed and Spot-flanked Barbets and Red-fronted Tinkerbird 162Honeyguides and woodpecker- Lesser and Greater Honeyguides and African Grey Woodpecker 164Woodpeckers - Nubian, Cardinal and Bearded Woodpeckers 166Babblers - Black-lored, Arrow-marked and Brown Babblers and Rufous Chatterer 168Bulbul, thrush and scrub robin- Common Bulbul, Spotted Palm Thrush and White-browed Scrub Robin 170Colourful chats - Common and Little Rock Thrushes and Mocking Cliff Chat 172Thrush and robin chats - Olive Thrush and White-browed and Cape Robin Chats 174Tchagras and Brubru - Brown-crowned and Three-streaked Tchagras and Brubru 176White-headed 'shrikes'- Grey-crested and White Helmetshrikes and Northern White-crowned Shrike 178Shrikes - Red-backed Shrike and Grey-backed and Common Fiscals 180Oriole and bushshrikes- Black-headed Oriole and Grey-headed and Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike 182Cuckooshrike, boubou and puffback- Black Cuckooshrike, Tropical Boubou and Black-backed Puffback 184Black birds of woodland edge- Common Drongo, Slate-coloured Boubou and Northern Black Flycatcher 186Attractive flycatchers of woods and gardens- White-eyed Slaty and African Paradise Flycatchers 188Nondescript flycatchers - Spotted, Pale and African Grey Flycatchers 190Warblers and prinia - Rattling Cisticola, Grey Wren Warbler and Tawny-flanked Prinia 192Green warblers - Grey-backed Camaroptera, Yellow-breasted Apalis and Grey-capped Warbler 194Crombec and warblers - Northern Crombec and Red-fronted and Buff-bellied Warblers 196Batis, tit and white-eye - Chin-spot Batis, White-bellied Tit and African Yellow White-eye 198Starlings and oxpecker - Rüppell's and Wattled Starlings and Red-billed Oxpecker 200Starlings - Greater Blue-eared, Red-winged and Bristle-crowned Starlings 202Brightly coloured starlings - Superb, Hildebrandt's and Violet-backed Starlings 204Sunbirds: 1 - Variable, Eastern Violet-backed, and Collared Sunbirds 206Sunbirds: 2 - Marico, Scarlet-chested and Amethyst Sunbirds 208Long-tailed sunbirds - Bronze, Tacazze and Beautiful Sunbirds 210Sparrows - House, Kenya Rufous and Grey-headed Sparrows 212Petronia and small brown weavers- Yellow-spotted Petronia and Speckle-fronted and Grey-capped Social Weavers 214Buffalo and sparrow weavers- White-billed and White-headed Buffalo Weavers and White-browed Sparrow Weaver 216Yellow weavers: 1 - Village , Speke's and Lesser Masked Weavers 218Yellow weavers: 2 - Northern Masked, Little and Golden-backed Weavers 220Yellow weavers: 3 - Holub's Golden, Spectacled and Black-necked Weavers 222Grosbeak and yellow weavers: 4 - Grosbeak, Vitelline Masked and Baglafecht Weavers 224Waxbills - Common, Crimson-rumped and Black-cheeked Waxbills 226Whydah and cordon-bleus- Pin-tailed Whydah and Red-cheeked and Blue-capped Cordon-bleus 228Waxbills and whydah - Green-winged Pytilia, Bronze Mannikin and Eastern Paradise Whydah 230Waxbills and indigobird - Purple Grenadier, Red-billed Firefinch and Village Indigobird 232Canaries - African Citril and Brimstone and White-bellied Canaries 234Buntings and seedeater- Cinnamon-breasted and Golden-breasted Buntings and Streaky Seedeater 236

NIGHT BIRDSNightjar and owls - Slender-tailed Nightjar and Barn and African Wood Owls 238Small owls - African Scops and Northern White-faced Scops Owls and Pearl-spotted Owlet 240Eagle owls - Spotted, Verreaux's and Greyish Eagle Owls 242

Further reading and useful resources 244Acknowledgements 245Photographic credits 246Scientific names of the bird species included in this book 247Index 252Short Index inside back cover