Gombe Stream National Park

Forests provide a rich home for a great variety of birds. Food is abundant-fruits, seeds, flower nectar, insects of all kinds. There are innumerable nesting sites. Conditions are relatively constant throughout the year, so most forest birds do not have to make hazardous migrations to other areas. They stay in their small patch of forest and may seldom venture into open country except when crossing from one valley to the next. Thus, the birds you will see in forests are mostly different from those which you see in other habitats.

It can be hard to see forest birds. Some live in the canopy, never coming lower, others hide in dense undergrowth and may only allow you a brief glimpse before disappearing. Be alert to slight movements and to calls. Many forest birds make very distinctive sounds. Some species call all year round, others mainly during the rains, when many species breed.

If you are on a ridge overlooking forest, you might see the Crowned Eagle (1), a very large brown bird with much barring and streaking, that preys on monkeys. You will probably see Black Roughwing Swallows (2) hawking insects over the canopy, and Palm-nut Vultures stand out conspicuously white against the forest greenery.

A loud three-note whistle "wip, wip, wiu" (or "it-will-rain!") especially heard at the start of the rains, is the Red-Chested Cuckoo (3), dark grey with a rusty-red breast. Cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds' nests; this one parasites robin-chats in particular.

A raucous cawing call, "raaaa, raaaa" will be a turaco, a large fruit-eater with vivid crimson wings. Livingstone's Turaco (4) is mostly leaf-green with a tall pointed green crest, Ross's Turaco (5) is dark blue with a yellow face and red crest.

A monotonous "tink, tink, tink" of evenly spaced notes is the Golden-Rumped Tinker-Bird (7), a tiny barbet with black and white facial stripes and a yellow rump patch. Barbets are fruit-eaters and several species flourish in these forests, including the large red-and-black Double-Toothed Barbet (6).

A call that sounds just like a person whistling 6-10 notes is made by the Red-Capped Robin-Chat (8), a mostly orange bird with a grey back. The White-Browed Robin-Chat is similar but with black and white stripes on the face. It also has a pretty song, a short whistled phrase becoming louder as it is repeated. Robin-chats are related to thrushes and robins and hunt for insects in the undergrowth and forest floor.

You can also expect to hear the flute-like phrases of the Tropical Boubou (9)—a black-and-white shrike that duets in dense foliage—and the bubbling call of the White-Browed Coucal, descending then rising in tone, somewhat like water being poured from a bottle. These are both common species throughout East Africa.

Some birds draw attention to themselves by their actions as much as their calls. The African Broadbill (10) is a little brown dumpy bird with dark streaks, and it perches on an exposed branch or vine in the forest. You would not normally notice it, except that the male periodically flies up and does a little somersault before returning to the same perch; as it does so, it flashes its white rump and gives a small screech.

Peter's Twinspot (11) feeds quietly on the forest floor-a pretty little finch with a red face and a white-spotted black belly.

Special thanks to Thomson Safaris and Tanzania National Parks for contributing Tanzanian information.