Due to the small seize of the 3 orders we combine them on this page.

Trogons are the most colourful in among them

Swifts – Order Apodiformes, Family Apodidae are highly aerial birds and not seen on the ground, on wires, on fences or trees like swallows. Their wings are more scythe shaped while straighter in Swallows. Often Swifts hunt in flocks and their chirping calls are heard. Most of them have brownish rather dull colours. Sexes look alike.

The scientific name derives from the Greek word ȧpous meaning footless. Swifts have very weak, small feet since they are not used to hold on a support. The species found South of the Sahara belong to the subfamily Apodinae.

Swifts are very fast and skillful fliers and soar since they hunt their prey like mosquitos or other flying insects in the air. They are the fastest in level flight!

They are distributed on many continents. Some are migrants escaping winter or dry spells when there are no insects. Some are residents or intra African migrants.

Nests are glued with saliva to vertical surfaces like walls. Some species breed in colonies. It is lovely to see when they fly in with insects in their beaks and the young wait with the wide open, yellow-gaped beak chirping excitedly.

Video Little Swifts

African Palm Swifts stick their nest on Palm leaves. They occur where palm trees grow.

Mousebirds Order Coliiformes, family Coliidae. 

Mousebirds are considered endemic to Africa South of the Sahara

6 species of Mousebirds occur in Africa with additional a good number of subspecies in certain species. In East Africa you can meet 4 different species of which the White-headed Mousebird is endemic to dry areas of Kenya and Somalia.

They are gregarious and live in small groups which can have noisy dispute at some times. Their body shape, sound and behaviour reminds of mice hence the name. They are slim with long tails, soft feathers and a crest.

The diet of Mousebirds consists of fruits, leaves and seeds. The Speckled Mousebirds often raid gardens which they gladly inhabit. To digest tough leaves they swallow small stones and/or expose their bellies to the sun or warm it on the warm ground.

Trogons – Order Trogoniformes (Trogons and Quetzals – not in Africa), family Trogonidae has 46 species worldwide, 2 species with subspecies are found in East Africa

Despite Trogons are very colourful birds they are not easy to detect in the foliage. Trogons are arboreal and feed on fruits and insects. Their bills are wide and their legs weak. The soft plumage is differently coloured in males and females. Trogons dig holes into trees and lay 2 – 4 eggs.

To give you as actual information as possible we use Avibase, the books “Birds of Africa South of the Sahara”, “Birds of East Africa”, “Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania”. Then we put the most characteristic information to the photo.

You can also follow us on Facebook “Bird photography Safaris Kenya” and see the numerous species as well as the beautiful photos from Lorenzo Barelli.

Click on the photo for larger view. The names of the photographers are on the photo and in the text. Without the generosity of several amazing bird photographers it had not been possible to create the pages with so many illustrated bird species. Those photos without name are from Elvira Wolfer.

Here you find samples of our birding safaris. Since most of the species here have a wide distribution range you can find many of them during most of our tours. To find a particular subspecies we will advise on the most suitable itinerary.