Tanzania October – November 2012 – Amani Nature Reserve

The Eastern Arc Mountains consist of several smaller, ancient mountain ranges, of which the Udzungwa´s, the Uluguru´s, the Usambara´s and Pares are the largest. These mountains are more than 200 million years old and actually host the second-highest biodiversity of the entire continent. Surprisingly they are sparsely visited by birders. After we visited the Udzungwa´s (see previous entry) we planned to visit the Uluguru´s but due to food poisoning we were unable to. Our next destination was Amani Nature Reserve in the East Usambara´s. This site is a must for birders if they want to see the critically endangered and highly localized Long-billed Tailorbird, as well as the endangered Banded Green Sunbird, Amani Sunbird and Usambara Eagle Owl.

If you visit this site under your own steam, you have to take the Muheza – Amani bus and then just ask to be dropped off at the track leading to the hotel of your choice. We can recommend the Emau Forest Hill Camp. It is rather expensive, but camping out can cut the price. This place is an excellent birding site, with many endemics foraging in its garden. At the camp we met a very nice Swedish birder, who was kind enough to share his guide, Martin (martinjoho2008@gmail.com), who was extremely knowledgeable and definitely the best we had in entire Tanzania.

We arrived in the late afternoon at the camp after a one hour walk from the main road. This walk proved good for Trumpeter and Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Eastern Olive Sunbird and Cabanis´ Bunting. Even in the last minutes of daylight we managed to see Shelley´s Greenbul, Yellow White-eye, Red-winged Starling and Moustached Green Tinkerbird within the garden of the camp. The next day we headed out into a remote part of the forest reserve by motorbike and here we enjoyed tons of great birds such as: Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Fischer´s Turaco (East-African endemic), Little, Shelley´s, Stripe-faced and Yellow-streaked Greenbul, Sharpe´s Akalat, Usambara Thrush (Tanzania endemic), Orange Ground Thrush, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler, Banded Green Sunbird (Tanzania Endemic) and Amani Sunbird (East-Africa endemic). The most noteworthy sighting of today however had to be the discovery of a new territory (#68) of Long-billed Tailorbirds. Besides the species above some other species were solely heard like Eastern Nicator, White-chested Alethe, Evergreen Forest Warbler and Black-fronted Bush-shrike. We also observed Angola Pied Colobus in this stretch of forest.

Long-billed Tailorbird (Artisornis moreaui)

Green-headed Oriole (Oriolus chlorocephalus)

The afternoon was spent in the garden of the camp which was rather productive and we enjoyed great views of Crowned, Wahlberg´s, Long-crested and Lesser Spotted Eagle, Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird (Tanzania endemic), Kenrick´s Starling (Tanzania endemic), Banded Green Sunbird (Tanzania endemic), Black Cuckooshrike and East-coast Boubou (East-Africa endemic).

Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird (Anthreptes neglectes)

Kenrick´s Starling (Poeoptera kenricki)

Crowned Eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus)

In the evening we tried to find the elusive Usambara Eagle Owl, but only found a pair of African Wood Owls, which sounded, in my humble opinion, rather similar to the Eagle Owl. Frustratingly, the owl called around 5:00 in the morning, but we were asleep, for we searched all night for it… Unfortunately we had to leave this magical place after two nights, for otherwise we would run out of money. I recommend a four day stay to fully enjoy this awesome site.