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Strange Weaver Ploceus alienus in Nyungwe Forest Reserve in July 2011. Photo: John Caddick

The following largely unconfirmed records have appeared in Bulletins of the African Bird Club and are for information only.

A pair of Green-backed Eremomelas Eremomela canescens found in open woodland in Akagera National Park on 8 April 2010 appears to be the first for Rwanda. The grey crown and nape, blackish mask, contrasting green upperparts, white throat and upper breast, and yellow lower breast and belly were clearly seen. A Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea, a generally scarce Palearctic winter visitor, was observed at Bugarama, near the Rubyiro River, in December 2008.

Records from Nyungwe Forest from the period June - October 2008 include the following. Breeding records include the following species seen on the nest: Mountain Buzzard Buteo oreophilus (13 June), Olive Woodpecker Dendropicos griseocephalus (3 August), Red-faced Woodland Warbler Phylloscopus laetus (15 June), Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher Melaenornis ardesiacus (3 August), African
Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone viridis (12 July), Waller’s Starling Onychognathus walleri (13 June), Strange Weaver Ploceus alienus and Dark-backed Weaver P. bicolor (28 June). An African Dusky Flycatcher Muscicapa adusta was seen feeding a nestling on 2 August. A flock of ten Red-collared Babblers Kupeornis rufocinctus with two short tailed juveniles were found on Bigugu trail on 25 July and on 2 August an adult was seen carrying nesting material. A Dusky Crimsonwing Cryptospiza jacksoni was nest building in vine tangles near Kamiranzovu swamp on 13 September.

Notable migrants in Nyungwe included a flock of 12 European Honey Buzzards Pernis apivorus flying south on 12 October, an African Blue Quail Coturnix  adansonii at Kitabi, at over 2,000 m, on 22 August, and three large flocks of
European Bee-eaters Merops apiaster on 13 October.

House Sparrow Passer domesticus has now reached Rwanda: it was observed in Gitarama in June and in Kigali in September.

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An African Pitta Pitta angolensis was seen in Buhanga Forest, on the outskirts
of Musanze, Ruhengeri, Northern Province, on 17 - 18 May 2008. Interestingly, single African Pittas were reported around the same dates in 2006, in Buhanga Forest and in a garden in Musanze, and also elsewhere in Rwanda / south- west Uganda.

A male Nubian Woodpecker Campethera nubica was seen in Buhanga Forest, on the outskirts of Musanze (Ruhengeri), on 26 July 2007; the small forest has no formal protection, but local people maintain it as a sacred site. This would constitute the second record for the country, the first having been reported in November 1989 from Akagera National Park. Previous records of the similar-looking Bennett’s Woodpecker C. bennettii in Rwanda are presumed to be based on misidentifications.

An African Pitta Pitta angolensis was found in a garden in the town of Musanze, Ruhengeri, Northern Province, on 19 May 2006, and stayed for several days. It fed on a wide variety of insects and worms and could be approached to within 2 m.

Red-faced Barbet Lybius rubrifacies was found to be still common in what remains of Akagera National Park, where at least 13 were seen on 1-2 June 2005; this species has a very restricted range and Akagera is probably the site where it is most easily observed.

In June 2003, a short, hassle-free trip to the country produced the following records. In Nyungwe Forest, the majority of the Albertine Rift endemics were found, including Handsome Francolin Francolinus nobilis, Rwenzori Turaco Ruwenzorornis johnstoni, Abyssian (Kivu) Ground-Thrush Zoothera (piaggiae) tanganjicae, Grauer's Swamp-Warbler Bradypterus graueri, Red-collared Babbler Kupeornis rufocinctus, Stuhlmann's Double-collared Sunbird Cinnyris stuhlmanni and others. Uniformly dark swifts, uttering tic calls similar to those of Scarce Swift Schoutedenapus myoptilus but much less frequent, possibly were Schouteden's Swift S. schoutedeni, which has been recorded less than 70 km away. In Akagera National Park, which is now about one-third of its former size but has the new boundaries apparently properly defined (and marked on a new map), sightings included Shoebill Balaeniceps rex and Red-faced Barbet Lybius rubrifacies.

In Nyungwe Forest Reserve, the endangered Grauer's Swamp-Warbler Bradypterus graueri and Kungwe Apalis Apalis (rufogularis) argentea (the latter treated as a race of the widespread Buff-throated Apalis Apalis rufogularis by the African Bird Club) were still well represented and easily found along the tarred road around the campsite, during a short and quite safe visit in June 2001.

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Last page update 1st September 2011