Birding

Kenya’s Dry Country – Samburu

December 3, 2025 by Faraaz Abdool 3 Comments

In keeping with my habits of birding in places where people are typically looking for non-feathered animals, I decided to highlight some of the birds I’ve ran into (not literally or lethally, of course) while roaming the arid lands of Samburu, Kenya. On my trips to East Africa, Samburu typically forms the northernmost reaches of our journeys, and the only chance of encountering some unique and charismatic species.

Samburu lets us touch the Somali biome, and nothing says that you’re in this biome like the blue bare bits of an adult male Somali Ostrich. There is no mistaking this bird, however, it must be noted that they can (females, especially) resemble a large shrub from a distance.

Somali Ostrich

One of the main targets when traversing these parts is the stunningly beautiful Vulturine Guineafowl. Typically a lover of drier habitats than the much commoner Helmeted Guineafowl, this souped-up guineafowl is not only larger, but also sports delicate white spots and vermiculations over a charcoal body with rich, royal blue underparts.

Vulturine Guineafowl

Bee-eaters abound around every bend – from the diminutive Little Bee-eater to the flashy White-throated Bee-eater, but the subtle, desert-infused hues of the Somali Bee-eater are unique within the family, rendering them a cut above the rest in my book, at least.

Somali Bee-eater

White-throated Bee-eater

I spoke at length about coursers in this previous post, but it’d be remiss of me to exclude Somali Courser from this collection.

When we came across a small colony of Golden Palm Weavers I felt the urge to pinch myself as the adult males very much recalled the adult Saffron Finches I was already familiar with.

Golden Palm Weaver

Birds of the World describes the vocalisations of Donaldson-Smith’s Sparrow-Weaver as a “rambling combination of varied notes” – which I daresay is what they hear each time we say “Donaldson-Smith’s Sparrow-Weaver”.

Donaldson-Smith’s Sparrow-Weaver

Surely, many of these birds can be found elsewhere, but Samburu remains – for me at least – the sole location where I’ve encountered these.

Written by Faraaz Abdool
Faraaz Abdool is a wildlife photographer and writer with a special emphasis on birds - surely due in no small part to his infatuation with dinosaurs as a child. He leads independent small group birding tours to several destinations, from the Caribbean to Central and South America, East Africa, and the South Pacific. His photographs have been widely published in various media, from large format prints for destination marketing to academic journals on poorly documented species. Faraaz is also a bird photography instructor, his online classes run annually each (boreal) winter, and in person workshops are listed on his website.