


Top 20 Most Common Bird in Nairobi City
Nestled amid diverse landscapes, Nairobi City offers a habitat teeming with avian life. The 20 most common birds found here showcase a wide range of features, from strikingly vibrant hues to distinctive melodies and ecological adaptations. Their behaviors and life-cycle patterns not only contribute to the city's rich biodiversity but also make Nairobi City a paradise for bird watchers.

Most Common Bird

1. Black Kite
Black Kite is a bird of prey known for its aerial skills and hunting ability. Its striking appearance makes it a fascinating species to observe, and it can often be seen soaring through the skies. Black Kite is highly adaptable and can be found in a variety of habitats, making it a common sight in many areas.


2. Common Bulbul
The bill is fairly short and thin, with a slightly downcurving upper mandible. The bill, legs, and feet are black and the eye is dark brown with a dark eye-ring, which is not readily visible. It is about 18 cm in length, with a long tail. It has a dark brown head and upperparts. Sexes are similar in plumage.


3. Hadada Ibis
The hadeda is a large (about 76 cm long), grey-to-partly brown species of ibis. Males and females are alike in plumage. It has a narrow, white, roughly horizontal stripe across its cheeks. This is sometimes called the "moustache" though it does not reach the mouth corners. The plumage over the wings has an iridescent purple sheen produced by optical microstructures within the feathers. The bird has blackish legs and a large grey-to-black bill but during the breeding season it has a red culmen on the basal half of the upper mandible. The upper surfaces of the toes are of a similar red during the onset of breeding. The wings are powerful and broad, enabling quick take-offs and easy manoeuvring through dense tree cover. It has an extremely loud and distinctive "haa-haa-haa-de-dah" call—hence the onomatopoetic name. The call is often heard when the birds are flying or are startled, or when the birds communicate socially, for example early in the morning in residential suburbs. While roosting they produce a single loud "haaaa". When foraging, their contact call is a low growl similar to that made by a young puppy.


4. Speckled Mousebird
The speckled mousebird is about 35 cm (14 inches) long, with the tail comprising approximately half the length, and weighs about 57 grams (2 oz). It is well-named, because it is dull-mousy brown in overall color on the back and on the head (including a prominent crest). The bill is black on the upper part and is a pinkish color on the lower part. The rare white-headed mousebird can be confused with this species, but the differently colored mandibles and the lack of a bare grey orbital patch render the Speckled species distinctive. The speckled mousebird is not known for its voice, as songbirds are, although it is a noisy creature. They make a warbling tsu-tsu call while in flight, and are known for their tisk-tisk alarm call while in flight.


5. Variable Sunbird
The variable sunbird (or yellow-bellied sunbird), Cinnyris venustus (formerly Nectarinia venusta), is a sunbird. The sunbirds are a group of small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time. The variable sunbird is a fairly common resident breeder in equatorial Africa. Two eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. This species is found in open woodland and cultivation. Variable sunbirds are small, only 10 cm long. They have medium-length thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding. The adult male has a glossy green head, throat and nape, and a maroon breast band. In most subspecies, the belly of the male is yellow, but in a few it is orange or white. The female has grey-brown upperparts and yellowish underparts, and an obvious pale supercilium. The eclipse male is like the female, but shows some green, especially on the throat. The call is a clear tew-tew-tew-tew-tew .


6. Abyssinian Thrush
It is 22 centimetres (8.7 in) long. This variable forest thrush is generally darker than the African thrush and has an orange (not yellow) bill. It is also darker than the Kurrichane thrush and has no malar stripes. Generally the birds get darker at higher altitudes.


7. Pied Crow
It is approximately the size of the European carrion crow or a little larger (46–50 cm in length) but has a proportionately larger bill, slightly longer tail and wings, and longer legs. As its name suggests, its glossy black head and neck are interrupted by a large area of white feathering from the shoulders down to the lower breast. The tail, bill and wings are black too. The eyes are dark brown. The white plumage of immature birds is often mixed with black. It resembles the white-necked and thick-billed ravens but has a much smaller bill.


8. Baglafecht Weaver
The baglafecht weaver has a length of 15 cm (5.9 in). The adult male baglafecht weaver has a distinctive black mask which extends from the bill through the eye and onto the ear coverts contrasting with the bright yellow forehead, forecrown and throat. The upperparts are yellowish green with dark centres to the feathers creating a faint streaking. The underparts are bright yellow on the breast fading to white towards the vent. The tail is yellow washed dark brown. The bill is black and the eye is pale yellow. The female baglafecht weaver lacks a mask but has dusky lores with yellowish-green cap, concolorous with the upperparts. In the non breeding plumage the mask is largely lost but there remains a dusky area around the eye, greyish brown on the upperparts, including the crown, with white washed buff underparts. Juveniles and immature birds do not have a mask on the dark-yellowish green head. The nominate race and Emin's weaver assume a distinct non-breeding plumage, but Reichenow's weaver does not.


9. African Pied Wagtail
A striking black and white wagtail with black upperparts contrasting with white underparts, a white supercilium and a white patch in the folded wing. Juvenile birds are greyer, while birds of the nominate subspecies show grey flanks. They are 20 cm (7.9 in) long.


10. Red-eyed Dove
The red-eyed dove is a largish, stocky pigeon, typically 30 cm (12 inches) in length. Its back, wings and tail are pale brown. When flying, it shows blackish flight feathers. The head and underparts are dark vinous-pink, shading to pale grey on the face. There is a black hind neck patch edged with white. The legs and a patch of bare skin around the eye are red. The call is a loud doo-doo-du-du. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller than adults, and have scalloping on the body feathers. Red-eyed doves eat grass seeds, grains and other vegetation. They often forage on the ground.


11. African Sacred Ibis
An adult individual is 68 cm (27 in) long with all-white body plumage apart from dark plumes on the rump. Wingspan is 112 to 124 cm (44 to 49 in) and body weight 1.35 to 1.5 kg (3.0 to 3.3 lb). Males are generally slightly larger than females. The bald head and neck, thick curved bill and legs are black. The white wings show a black rear border in flight. The eyes are brown with a dark red orbital ring. Sexes are similar, but juveniles have dirty white plumage, a smaller bill and some feathering on the neck, greenish-brown scapulars and more black on the primary coverts. This bird is usually silent, but occasionally makes puppy-like yelping noises, unlike its vocal relative, the hadada ibis.


12. Streaky Seedeater
The streaky seedeater (Crithagra striolatus) is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.


13. White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher

14. Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater
The sexes are alike in the cinnamon-chested bee-eater. They have bright green heads, upper parts, and tails; their chins and throats are yellow and outlined in black, with a white extension to the side; their breasts are cinnamon-brown, darkening towards the belly. When perched, their stance is upright with the tail pointing downward. The tail is blackish with an orange base and white tip when seen from the front, while from the back it is mainly green, with black edges visible when it is flared. This bird can be distinguished from the somewhat similar little bee-eater by their larger size, darker colouring, white cheek patches, and the upland habitat where they are found.


15. Bronze Mannikin
The bronze mannikin is one of the smallest munia species, measuring 9–10 cm in length and weighing 7–12 grams. The adult is a compact bird with a short black tail, and stubby black and pale grey (not distinctly bluish) mandibles. It is black to brownish black on the head, chin, throat and center of the chest, with some purple-green iridescence on the face and sides of the breast. It has greyish brown upper parts and white underparts with irregular barring on the flanks and rump. A small green iridescent patch is present on the outer scapular feathers, besides, especially in the western race, the sides of the lower breast. Wing coverts and remiges are bordered in a paler or warmer tone. The sexes are similar. Immature birds are dun brown above with buff head and underpart plumage. They moult into full adult plumage by age six months, when the males also begin to sing and exhibit breeding behaviour.


16. Red-billed Firefinch
The red-billed firefinch is 10 cm (3.9 in) in length. The adult male has entirely scarlet plumage apart from brown wings. The bill is pink, and there is a yellow eye-ring. Females have uniformly brown upperparts and buff underparts. There is a small red patch in front of both eyes, with the bill also being pink.


17. Rüppell's Robin-chat

18. African Paradise Flycatcher
The adult male African paradise flycatcher is about 17 cm long, but the very long tail streamers double this. It has a black head, neck and underparts, and chestnut wings and tail. There is a prominent white wingbar. The female has a browner tint to the underparts and lacks the wingbar and tail streamers. Young birds are similar to the female but duller. The males show considerable variation in plumage in some areas. There is a morph of this species in which the male has the chestnut parts of the plumage replaced by white, and some races have black tail streamers. This species readily hybridizes with the genetically similar Rufous-vented paradise flycatcher. The red-bellied paradise flycatcher is also closely related to this species, and hybrids occur with the underparts a mixture of black and red.


19. Egyptian Goose
The egyptian Goose is found throughout Africa and is an invasive species in Europe - specifically in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom. These birds are very common in most waterways throughout their natural range. Their name refers to the reverence ancient Egyptians had for the species; many ancient Egyptian artworks depict the species as well.

20. Bronze Sunbird
The bronzy sunbird (Nectarinia kilimensis) is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
