ETHIOPIA 2014

Birdfinders has run tour to Ethiopia for the past nine years and every year brings new surprises and records some of which we pass on to the African Bird Club as rare or unusual. This year there were two surprises, firstly an immature Red-footed Falcon, photographed over Awassa on 1st November. There are only few records of this species in the region, from Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and northeast Ethiopia but to our knowledge, it never has been recorded from the Rift Valley Area. The second surprise was an immature Oriental Honey-buzzard, photographed over Wondo Genet in the late afternoon of 2nd November; this may be the first record for Ethiopia.

Additionally, there were excellent sightings of three Liben Larks and seven Prince Ruspoli’s Turacos, the most vulnerable of Ethiopian endemics. Other Ethiopian and Horn of Africa endemics seen included Wattled Ibis, Blue-winged Goose, Rouget’s Rail, Spot-breasted Lapwing, White-collared Pigeon, Yellow-fronted Parrot, Black-winged Lovebird, Abyssinian Woodpecker, Banded Barbet, Erlanger’s Larks, White-tailed Swallow, Abyssinian Longclaw, Abyssinian Catbird, Stresemann’s Bush-crow, Thick-billed Raven, Abyssinian Slaty-flycatcher, White-backed Black-tit, Rüppell’s Black-chat, White-winged Cliff-chat, Sombre Chat, Dark-headed Oriole, White-billed Starling, Salvadori’s Serin and Ethiopian Siskin. Other Ethiopian or regionally endemic species and sub-species included Brown Saw-wing (antinorii), Black Sawwing (pristoptera), Ethiopian Cisticola, Brown Parisoma, Abyssinian Wheatear, Chestnut-naped, Erckel’s and Moorland Francolins, White-cheeked Turaco, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Gillett’s and Somali Short-toed Larks, White-rumped Babbler, Ethiopian Boubou, Somali Fiscal, Swainson’s Sparrow, Salvadori’s (Juba) Weaver, African (Ethiopian) Stonechat (albofasciatus), Somali Crow, White-crowned Starling, African Citril, Brown-rumped Seedeater and many other special African birds. Photographs on many of these can be found on our website together with a detailed trip report kindly prepared by Steve and Annette Phillips and a complete checklist. We are already accepting bookings for our 2015 tour on the slightly revised dates of 1–18 November 2015.

Blue-winged Goose	African Pygmy-goose
Hottentot Teal	Vulturine Guineafowl
Yellow-necked Francolin	Wattled Ibis
Rüppell's Griffon	Black-breasted Snake-eagle (imm)
Crowned Eagle	African Hawk-eagle
African Goshawk	Arabian Bustard
White-bellied Bustard	Rouget's Rail
Wattled Crane	Spot-breasted Lapwing
Three-banded Plover	Somali Courser
White-collared Pigeon	Lemon Dove
Prince Ruspoli's Turaco	White-cheeked Turaco
Cape Eagle-owl	Verreaux's Eagle-owls
Abyssinian Owl	Donaldson-Smith's Nightjar
Abyssinian Nightjar	Slender-tailed Nightjar
Narina Trogon	Half-collared Kingfisher
Blue-breasted Bee-eater	Abyssinian Scimitar-bill
Abyssinian Ground-hornbills	Silvery-cheeked Hornbill
Banded Barbet	Wahlberg's Honeyguide
Rufous-necked Wryneck	Abyssinian Woodpecker
African Hobby	Black-winged Lovebird
Brown-throated Wattle-eye	Grey-headed Batis
Ethiopian Boubou	Taita Fiscal
Somali Fiscal	Stresemann's Bush-crow
Somali Crow	Thick-billed Raven
Liben Lark	Chestnut-headed Sparrow-lark
Somali Short-toed Lark	Ethiopian Swallow
Red-faced Crombec	Brown Woodland-warbler
Ethiopian Cisticola	Banded Parisoma
Brown Parisoma	Abyssinian White-eye
Abyssinian Slaty-flycatcher	Red-backed Scrub-robin
Rüppell's Robin-chat	White-browed Robin-chat
White-winged Cliff-chat	Sombre Chat
Abyssinian Ground-thrush	African Stonechat
Abyssinian Thrush	African Bare-eyed Thrush
Bristle-crowned Starling	Sharpe's Starling
Tacazze Sunbird	Mariqua Sunbird
Abyssinian Longclaw	Abyssinian Siskin
African Citril	Salvadori's Serin
Brown-rumped Seedeater	Speke's Weaver
Salvadori's Weaver	Purple Grenadier
African Firefinch	Bishangari
Sanety Plateau