Lake Nakuru National Park’s rich birdlife includes more than 450 species. At times, hundreds of thousands of flamingos tinge the lake shallows pink, a truly spectacular phenomenon. In recent years, however, flamingo numbers have often been disappointingly low. A more reliable sight is the countless pelicans and storks that roost close to Rhino Point on the southeast shore. Nakuru is a good place to look for the near-endemic grey-crested helmet-shrike. A colony of colorful white-fronted bee-eaters nests in a low sandy cliff 1km/0.7mi east of Makalia Falls. Common raptors include long-crested eagle, African fish eagle, augur buzzard and black-winged kite.
Birding Specials Treats for Avid Birders
(NE) near-endemic = lives in Kenya and neighboring countries- Abyssinian thrush
- Arrow-marked babbler
- Augur buzzard
- Bateleur
- Black-tailed godwit
- Black-winged lapwing
- Blue-billed teal
- Brimstone canary
- Brown-backed scrub robin
- Crab-plover
- Eastern imperial eagle
- European roller
- Great snipe
- Great white pelican
- Greater blue-eared starling
- Greater spotted eagle
- Grey crowned crane
- Grey-crested helmet-shrike (NE)
- Grey-headed woodpecker
- Hildebrandt’s starling
- Kenya rufous sparrow
- Lappet-faced vulture
- Lesser flamingo
- Lesser kestrel
- Long-crested eagle
- Long-tailed widowbird
- Maccoa duck
- Montane white-eye
- Northern anteater chat
- Northern puffback
- Pallid harrier
- Pink-backed pelican
- Red-capped lark
- Rufous-necked wryneck
- Rüppell’s robin-chat
- Rüppell’s vulture
- Schalow’s wheatear
- Shining sunbird
- Slender-billed greenbul
- Sooty falcon
- Speke’s weaver
- Verreaux’s eagle
- Western reef heron
- White-fronted bee-eater
- White-headed vulture
Best Time for Bird Watching
Lake Nakuru offers good year-round bird watching. The number of its famous flamingos varies greatly, influenced more by long-term fluctuations in water level and salinity than by season. That said, in any given year, flamingo numbers are likely to be highest when the lake retreats toward the end of the Dry season (June to February). Otherwise, the best time for birders is from November to March. At this time, you’ll enjoy good weather, the presence of migrants (November to April) and the sight of breeding birds in their finest plumage.