Birding in Ethiopia (1 Viewer)

I would like to spend my autumn holiday in ethiopia. Generaly I like every bird. But at the moment I am keen in old world sparrows.

I would like to see the:

Swainson's Sparrow (I think it is no problem to see this common bird in ethiopia)

Somali Sparrow
Chestnut Sparrow
Sudan Golden Sparrow

Do you have any information about places of these birds? Favourite Nationalparks to see them?

If you have any other intersting information about birds and other animals in nationalparks it is also welcome!

Thank you!

I suggest you do a search on Cloudbirders
Hundreds of trip reports there, including 177 from Ethiopia.
https://www.cloudbirders.com/tripreport
Ken

There are a couple of questions that come to mind
- when are you planning to go? - the autumn is the end of rainy season and this can make travelling difficult
- Where are you planning to go?

Yes you are correct, Swainson's is easy across the country including in Addis itself

The three species you mention are difficult to connect with and are erruptive following the rains. Chestnut is perhaps the most plentiful and is most often see in the south of country along the Rift from Ziway southwards.

The other two are best looked for in the NE towards Djibouti (in fact Djibouti may be better for both). Both seem to be a bit hit and miss. More birders in Ethiopia are using ebird, so you could try this, but these two are outside the normal circuit so records may be scarce.

Somali Sparrow: the borders of Ethiopia. Probably not worth looking for in Ethiopia as you won't encounter it, unless you go towards the border with e.g. Djibouti. I wouldn't trust the ebird pointers in C-Ethiopia.

Sudan Golden Sparrow: same, even rarer, only some influxes now-and-then.

I see you didn't mention some other passer, like Shelley's (see Chestnut but sometimes a bit less obtrusive) and Parrot-billed (around Mega)?

Maybe a bit offensive, but sparrows are kept in cages and I hope you're not going to capture any of those?

So thank you for all the hints!

@Surreybirder: I will read the trip reports on Cloudbirders, Thank you!
@Muppit17: My plan was to go to the south of ethiopia. Something like this: 29.06.2019-13.10.2019
1. Abidjatta-Shalla National Park @ Hara Langano Eco Lodge
2. Nechisar NP und Arba Minch @ (Paradise Lodge / Soma Lodge)
3. Ev Jinka
4. Yabelo Wildlife Sanctuary @ Yabelo Motel
5. Wondo Genet @ Zion Train Lodge
6. Bale Mountains NP @ Bale Mountain Lodge (http://www.balemountainlodge.com/)
7. Awash NP
I don't know a good car hire. If you know any I am thankful. I didn't check the rain season. So maybe better to switch to December/January.
Is Djibouti safe to travel around?

@temmie: shelly's rufous and parrot-billed I already captured in Uganda/Kenya so if I see it again, It will be beautiful, but it is not priority. Photos of bird in cages does not count and I am not interested in capturing birds. I am just interested in old world sparrows (passer). See on my website: https://marcel-zihlmann.wixsite.com/wildlifephotography/sparrows

Thank you again for your help. The next sparrow I hope to find is the passer moabiticus (dead sea sparrow) in Israel.

Best wishes

fink

Surreybirder said:

I suggest you do a search on Cloudbirders
Hundreds of trip reports there, including 177 from Ethiopia.
https://www.cloudbirders.com/tripreport
Ken

Click to expand...

Thank you!

Never heard of this web page before! There is a lot of information and I have joined them

Cheers
Aladdin

Fink said:

@temmie: shelly's rufous and parrot-billed I already captured in Uganda/Kenya so if I see it again, It will be beautiful, but it is not priority. Photos of bird in cages does not count and I am not interested in capturing birds. I am just interested in old world sparrows (passer). See on my website: https://marcel-zihlmann.wixsite.com/wildlifephotography/sparrows

Thank you again for your help. The next sparrow I hope to find is the passer moabiticus (dead sea sparrow) in Israel.

Best wishes

fink

Click to expand...

Apologies if I reacted a bit too much out of paranoia; I have never encountered someone really focusing on one genus of birds, and many seed eating birds are these days (unfortunately) vulnerable because of the cage trade... :t: