Bird watching in Mbeya

An amazing array of waterbirds can be found on the crater lakes around town, such as the Ngosi Crater lake, or Ndwati Lake. These are always home to small water birds such as the yellow billed duck, the little grebe and more curiously, the Red-knobbed coot. Around Lake Nyasa the Fish eagle, open billed stork and amazing balancing African Jacana can often be seen, and swift flying Grey-headed gulls and Darters.

The mountain forests, such as those around Ngosi and Rungwe craters provide an entirely different environment in which to find birds, although the density of the undergrowth does make them much harder to spot. One of the most popular and colourful is the small and delicate Bar-tailed trogon, or perhaps you might glimpse another brilliantly coloured bird with a shining blue head and green back and a distinctive yellow belly – the white-starred forest robin. Both of these are quiet little bough hoppers, but can sometimes be seen if not heard when the watcher is patient and still.