SUB-REGION
East Africa
SIZE
27,830 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 610 recorded species
Albertine Rift endemics occurring in Burundi
Rwenzori Turaco
Rwenzori Batis
Albertine Sooty Boubou
Willard’s Sooty Boubou
Stripe-breasted Tit
Red-faced Woodland Warbler
Grauer’s Swamp Warbler
Rwenzori Apalis
Mountain Masked Apalis
Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher
Red-throated Alethe
Archer’s Ground Robin
Blue-headed Sunbird
Purple-breasted Sunbird
Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird
Regal Sunbird
Strange Weaver
Shelley’s Crimsonwing
Dusky Crimsonwing
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC
Schuett’s Spurfowl
Cranch’s Spurfowl
Black-faced Go-away-bird
Eastern Black-billed Turaco
Reichenow’s Turaco
White-faced Barbet
Northern Olive Woodpecker
Grey-headed Parrot
Pale-throated Greenbul
African Reed Warbler
Rufous-crowned Cisticola
Kivu Ground Thrush
Stuhlmann’s Weaver
Black-fronted Red Bishop
Other taxa of interest
African Black Duck
Square-tailed Nightjar
Horus Swift
Great Blue Turaco
Eastern Plantain-eater
Purple-crested Turaco
Ross’s Turaco
Blue-headed Coucal
White-browed Coucal
Blue Malkoha
Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo
African Olive Pigeon
Dusky Turtle Dove
Grey Crowned Crane
Lesser Flamingo
Long-toed Lapwing
African Snipe
African Skimmer
Pink-backed Pelican
Western Banded Snake Eagle
Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
African Marsh Harrier
Mountain Buzzard
Augur Buzzard
Common Scimitarbill
White-headed Wood Hoopoe
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Lilac-breasted Roller
Blue-breasted Bee-eater
Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater
White-fronted Bee-eater
Southern Carmine Bee-eater
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Spot-flanked Barbet
Red-throated Wryneck
Golden-tailed Woodpecker
Chinspot Batis
Western Black-headed Batis
Black-throated Wattle-eye
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Doherty’s Bushshrike
Black-backed Puffback
Northern Puffback
Papyrus Gonolek
Black-headed Gonolek
Grey Cuckooshrike
Mackinnon’s Shrike
Grey-backed Fiscal
Mountain Oriole
White-necked Raven
White-tailed Blue Flycatcher
White-tailed Crested Flycatcher
Olive-breasted Greenbul
Yellow-streaked Greenbul
White-headed Saw-wing
Angola Swallow
White-browed Crombec
Cinnamon Bracken Warbler
Trilling Cisticola
Chubb’s Cisticola
Chirping Cisticola
Black-faced Prinia
White-chinned Prinia
Black-throated Apalis
Chestnut-throated Apalis
Grey Apalis
Grey-capped Warbler
Green-capped Eremomela
Rwenzori Hill Babbler
Green White-eye
Brown Illadopsis
Arrow-marked Babbler
Hartlaub’s Babbler
Black-lored Babbler
Rüppell’s Starling
Slender-billed Starling
Sharpe’s Starling
Abyssinian Thrush
Brown-backed Scrub Robin
White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher
Swamp Flycatcher
African Dusky Flycatcher
White-bellied Robin-Chat
White-browed Robin-Chat
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
White-starred Robin
Equatorial Akalat
Collared Palm Thrush
Miombo Rock Thrush
Sooty Chat
Ruaha Chat
Western Violet-backed Sunbird
Amethyst Sunbird
Bronzy Sunbird
Malachite Sunbird
Northern Double-collared Sunbird
Marico Sunbird
Red-chested Sunbird
Slender-billed Weaver
Spectacled Weaver
Black-necked Weaver
Black-billed Weaver
Holub’s Golden Weaver
Northern Brown-throated Weaver
Yellow-bellied Waxbill
Red-faced Crimsonwing
Grey-headed Nigrita
Black-crowned Waxbill
Kandt’s Waxbill
Fawn-breasted Waxbill
Dusky Twinspot
Cape Wagtail
Mountain Wagtail
Long-billed Pipit
Western Citril
Black-throated Canary
Thick-billed Seedeater
Streaky Seedeater
Yellow-crowned Canary
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
MAIN HABITATS
Afromontane forest, swamps, savanna
BIRD AREAS
Albertine Rift mountains Endemic Bird Area
5 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Kibira National Park (NP) for Albertine Rift endemics and other montane forest species
Rusizi NP and Ruvubu NP for swamp and savanna species
TIMING (Jun–Aug)
Best in the main dry season when most montane birds breed (Jun–Sep)
The height of the rains (Mar–Apr, Dec) is best avoided
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)
eGuide to Birds of East Africa
Field guides
Birds of East Africa by Terry Stevenson & John Fanshawe (2020)
Sounds
African Bird Sounds Vol 2: West and Central Africa by Claude Chappuis
Further reading
Burundi by Samuel Kanyamibwa & Jean-Pierre Vande weghe in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Burundi’s Important Bird Areas: Status and Trends 2008 compiled by Léonidas Nkezabahizi & Dieudonné Bizimana (2009)
Burundi’s Important Bird Areas: Status and Trends 2009 compiled by Léonidas Nkezabahizi & Arsène Manirambona (2010)
Burundi’s Important Bird Areas: Status and Trends 2010 compiled by Léonidas Nkezabahizi & Arsène Manirambona (2011)
Articles in Scopus, Bull. ABC, Malimbus, Inyomvyi (ABN newsletter), etc.
ORGANISATIONS
Association Burundaise pour la Protection de la Nature (ABN), formerly Association Burundaise pour la Protection des Oiseaux, is the BirdLife Partner in Burundi
The East African Rarities Committee assesses records of new and very rare birds occurring in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi
Other bird or conservation organisations active in Burundi include –
Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS)
Association Assemble pour la Protection de l’Environnement (ASEPE) Dukingire Ibidukikije Asbl
Association des Amis de la Nature (AAN)
Association Protection des Ressources Naturelles pour le Bien-Être de la Population au Burundi (APRN/BEPB)
Association pour la Gestion Durable de la Biodiversité au Burundi (AGDB)
Association Catholique pour la Protection de l’Environnement au Burundi (ACAPE-Burundi)
Association Dusanurivyasambutse de Mubaragaza
Twizeyegukira (Rukoma Site Support Group)