Birding Ethiopia: My Unusual Introduction to Africa

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It turns out that birding Ethiopia is an unusual choice for a first-time vacation to Africa.  There are no big game safaris like in areas to the south, and it has no gorilla treks like in countries to the southwest.  And those other countries tend to have more tourists and, of course, the infrastructure to provide more comfort to those tourists.

But what it lacks in big game and infrastructure, it makes it for in compelling history, unique wildlife, tasty cuisine, and the best darned coffee you’ll find anywhere. It might be an unusual first trip to Africa, I will admit that much. But Ethiopia still warrants a visit for anyone looking to return to Africa and explore beyond the safari crowds.

Oh, This is Different

I did not know what to expect when I arrived for my birding tour in Ethiopia.  I’d only booked the tour three weeks before I departed.  I didn’t know what birds to expect when I booked the tour.  I hadn’t even opened the field guide to Birds of Ethiopia at that point.  I’d just signed up randomly when I saw a last-minute discount, because that’s just who I am. So I decided I would just see whatever I would see.  Ya know, I was just winging it.  

Hah!  Bird pun!

General Insights from a New Visitor

Because Ethiopia was such a new, and unplanned, destination, it seemed to fly by leaving only general impressions of the experience.  I should have taken notes of the experience. This is one of the reasons I am maintaining this blog! It is honestly depressing to think about how many memories of great and unusual life experiences are needlessly forgotten, simply because I failed to write it down. At the time, I just had no idea how Ethiopia compared and contrasted with other areas of the continent.

It became increasingly clear to me how little I knew about African birds. And also how impossible it seemed for others to understand just how little I knew. 

Nothing, I knew nothing. 

Most others in the group had been to Africa at least a couple times, and it was probably inconceivable to join a bird tour without learning about the area’s birds.

But that’s what I had done, and it made everything kinda awesome! I knew bird families of the Americas, but I was completely surprised by the sunbirds, bee-eaters, and wydahs seen while birding Ethiopia.

And the first time we saw the mobbing songbird response to the call of a little scops owl?  Wow. Playing a recorded call of the little owl will alarm songbirds and also lure in the actual owl. And then the owl’s presence draws in birds of all sorts. I don’t think this is a technique that should be used overly much, but it can produce a dramatic response in some areas.

And the owl itself? Many birders might not pay much attention to it. It is commonly seen. But it is absolutely adorable.

We also saw glorious raptors, colorful perching birds, the world’s rarest larks, and… and Ethiopian Wolves!!!

Clarification: Ethiopian wolves are not birds.

And because I can’t pay attention to birds like a good birder, I also saw giant root rats!  HOORAY FOR RODENTS!!!  This is the primary prey species for the wolves. Their survival is a daily game of whack-a-mole, basically.

Birding around the Ethiopian Map

Lake Langano

I spent a day in the capital city before the tour actually began, when we set out toward Lake Langano and left the big city behind us.  There was birding along the way, and I saw many new birds. Literally almost every bird on this trip was new to me, so Day 1 of birding was almost overwhelming. New wading birds and waterbirds first – with giant pelicans, and strange maribou storks, and hamerkop.

And although I saw many new birds, this first breakfast was one of the more memorable stops of the trip. 

Why?  Because we had our first cups of freshly-roasted coffee, overlooking a mountain lake surrounded by dense forests.  The view was lovely, but that coffee was magical.  

Oh, right.  This was also my 33rd birthday!  Happy birthday to me!  Birthday bird:  Black Crowned Crane. 

At Lake Langano, I was mostly intrigued by a little kingfisher that seemed abundant in the area, but it eluded all my attempts at a decent photograph. 

Bale Mountain

It wasn’t long before we dashed off to the dense Harenna Forest and then Bale Mountains National Park.  At Bale Mountain , we separated into SUVs to take a drive over the mountains and spend time birding atop the plateau. The open landscape or the moorlands was just beautiful. Here is one of only a couple remaining Ethiopian wolf populations in the world. They roam through the rocky outcrops searching for its primary prey, the giant root rat.

During this drive, we passed through some sort of seemingly endless moorland that seemed almost surreal. I had never seen anything like it, and the memory of this area remains one of the more haunting and unique landscapes I have ever laid eyes on. A whitish heather and other low shrubby plants covered the open plateau, vaguely reminiscent of a light dusting of snow.

At some point, we observed a lone figure passing through the scene – surely with a destination in mind, but it was unclear whence he came.  It all seemed almost too remote.

I can’t visualize things in my mind, and I don’t have a photo that does it justice. But I can recall with startling clarity the emotions this landscape evoked. It’s the feeling of an emotional memory that I can’t capture in words. I wish I could distilled into something tangible.

Although the Ethiopian wolf and the moors were highlights for me here, it goes without saying that many birds were also seen! We saw blue-winged geese and beautiful raptors (like the Martial Eagle) and new francolin running beside the narrow dirt road.

Down South

Heading south toward Negele, we were in the land of the Ruspoli’s Turaco, a rare endemic with a very restricted distribution. It’s a brilliant green bird with a white crest, as are many turacos, and has brilliant red primary flight feathers.

Distraction: This bird does have the misfortune of bearing the name of the first European to collect a specimen from the wild. This happened in the 1890’s on an expedition by one Prince Ruspoli. He didn’t label the specimen’s origin, though, so it took another 50 years before the bird was identified again near a small village in Ethiopia. In an unrelated note, Prince Ruspoli was found dead with the collected specimen. He was trampled by an elephant.

I didn’t know at the time that it’s common for tour companies to have relationships with local guides and/or communities. In this case, we stopped on the roadside and our guide exchanged pleasantries with a couple local men. I got distracted by helmetshrikes at this point, because it was the first time I noticed them independently. And then, suddenly I see all sorts of locals (and my tour participants) excitedly running across the field. We’re off on an adventure!

And mere minutes after the running and commotion, sure enough… there was our stellar green bird of the day. This elegant bird seemed altogether unimpressed with us. It just remained on its perch, waiting for us to leave.

And then we headed off to find more birds, as birding tours do.

What a Lark!

We continued down toward Somalia, then west toward Kenya.  We walked through fields, attempting to hear the correct chirping call that would incite us to rush for a look at a… little brown bird.  One of the rarest little brown larks in the world.

There were many little and big brown jobs while birding Ethiopia, actually. 

Francolins are brown game birds, galliforms (like chickens) that aren’t terribly little. Bustards are tall brown birds that strut around knowing they’re pretty cool. Larks are streaky brown songbirds of the grasslands. Cisticolas are not in the Americas, but are a group similar to sparrows in that they are mostly small and brown and hard to identify without knowing their calls. Oh, except sparrows are fare more visually distinctive than our friends, the cisticolas.

Let’s not talk about cisticolas.

Alkaline Lakes and Acacia Grasslands

We returned to the big skies and alkaline lakes of the Rift Valley again to see flamingos and hippos and those beautiful blue Abyssinian rollers (which I admittedly hounded like paparazzi). 

We stayed at a lovely ecolodge with great food and grounds, where we birded in the forest for barbets and firefinches and saw the most beautiful night sky. 

We birded drier habitats in the area of Awash and Aledeghi Wildlife Reserve.  And then we visited Awash National Park, which was memorable to a newbie like me because it was the acacia-dominated woodlands and open grassland habitat that everyone probably imagines when they first think “Africa”.  And we saw jackals and African wild cats and sandgrouse so cryptic they were hard to see even in broad daylight.

Once, somewhere along the way, a group of children erupted from the distance to find us, and one little girl started to video us – the 10 foreigners standing in a remote and unremarkable roadside thicket, all looking through binoculars at the same tree full of random birds. 

Yes, we’re absurd.  Good call, young lady.  Good call.  

In the Highlands

The Debre Bihran area was our last real stop on the tour, to pick up some high elevation specialties in the area.  Given the lack of heat, the high elevations in Ethiopia can get pretty chilly.  But I was freezing in Debre Bihran.  Hot morning coffee was not enough, and all I wanted was my porridge (yep, porridge) and more coffee.  There were also some cute little francolins, but there was just not enough coffee.  I was freakin’ cold.

We made another stop, where we saw some streaky grassland birds – including our last endemic – in rocky habitats. And at the top of the rocky outcrops well above us, we saw a group of gelada. I’m not a primate fangirl, but the gelada is a large monkey species with a bright red chest. Although it’s often called a “baboon”, it actually belongs to its own genus. It certainly stands apart from most other monkeys, and it only occurs in the highlands of Ethiopia.

After folks had their fill of primates, we departed the highlands to head back to the city.

We ended the trip by returning to Addis Ababa for our departing international flights.  We had a final group dinner, which included a buffet of traditional Ethiopian dishes. The options here were far more extensive than during the tour!  

Leaving Africa, for now

We left Ethiopia with a species list that easily topped 500 birds.  FIVE.  Hundred.  Birds.  Apparently we missed a rare species or two, but I wouldn’t begin to know what those birds were.  Ignorance is bliss, baby.

On our first day of birding Ethiopia, I scanned a wetland with my binoculars and remarked that the Marabou stork was a cool bird.  Given its status as a common widespread species, a lowly “trash bird”, let’s just say I started the trip with zero street cred. 

And I happily left the country with exactly the same level of credibility, a new love of Ethiopian food, and about 500 new species on my life list.  That feels like a win to me.

General Thoughts about Ethiopia

In a “do what I say, don’t do what I do” moment, I’ll say this: I probably wouldn’t recommend Ethiopia as a first stop in Africa. 

The combination of less tourism and no history of colonial rule means that your knowledge of English, French, or Dutch won’t get you nearly as far here as, say, South Africa.  English is taught in some schools/universities and is probably the most useful non-local language. Certainly people in tourism are more likely to be able to communicate with you in English. But tour companies definitely ease stress from differences in communication and improving cultural understanding.

If you’re like me and just want the most out of your limited vacation time, there’s tremendous benefit to having a guide who can provide transport, handle logistics even in the most remote areas, and provide more context about a destination. I think there is great value to a tour/guide in Ethiopia.

But you’ll still experience slightly lesser lodging amenities and fewer options than you’d find in some countries with greater travel infrastructure. And if you want a traditional safari experience, particularly with a chance to see the great migration or the big five, this just isn’t the right place for it.

So should you go? If you are interested, then you absolutely should!

Some tips to consider:

1. Get cash from an ATM whenever you see one, probably in Addis Ababa. They won’t be readily available everywhere so just save yourself stress and get cash in the city!
2. There is amaaaazing coffee. 
   • Drink as much coffee as humanly possible. 
   • Watch the coffee being roasted, then drink the coffee. 
   • Then buy coffee and take it home, to drink more of the coffee. 
3. If you like Ethiopian food, eat the Ethiopian food. 
   • Most hotel restaurants have limited menus – typically tibs (most often lamb) or shiro, both served with injera. 
   • Shiro is my jam, and it’s thicker and more delicious in Ethiopia than any state-side restaurant.  I miss the shiro, I really do.
   • Generally there will be “western” or “European” options, but it’s not gonna blow your mind.  Just eat the dang local food, mmkay?
4. We went to some locations I would recommend to most people, especially if interested in natural beauty/wildlife of the area:
   • The Bale Mountains are remote and expansive and somehow haunting.  The Ethiopian wolf is found here. It is a lovely landscape.
   • Awash National Park, because this is the place that will look like quintessential images of Africa with acacia dominated grasslands. There are some nice eco-lodge options nearby, like Awash Falls Lodge, which even offer activities/tours as well as nice food (and great birds).
5. If you stay in a remote lodge, don’t miss any opportunity to look up at night.  One a clear night, the star-studden sky will be truly dazzling.
6. Addis Ababa, the capital city, is big and sprawling.
   • I would have preferred having a tour/guide for the overwhelming shopping scene that is the Addis Mercato.
   • The National Museum of Ethiopia is a great stop! Lucy is there (along with other historic exhibits, of course). The entrance fee is very affordable, so it’s a very cheap afternoon activity (especially if done without a guide).