Birds to See in Kenya in February
105 species listed for February · birdwatchers' records, 2019–2024
105 bird species on our list for Kenya are recorded regularly in February. Of these, the most often recorded are Fork-tailed Drongo, Barn Swallow, Egyptian Goose, Pied Crow and Grey Heron. New this month: Little Tern, Red-necked Phalarope and Pacific Golden-Plover.
New in February3
Leaving after last month4
Residents
(52)Recorded all year
Fork-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus adsimilisLC
Recorded all year

Egyptian Goose
Alopochen aegyptiacaLC
Recorded all year

Pied Crow
Corvus albusLC
Recorded all year

Grey Heron
Ardea cinereaLC
Recorded all year

Cattle Egret
Ardea ibisLC
Recorded all year

Helmeted Guineafowl
Numida meleagrisLC
Recorded all year

Lesser Striped Swallow
Cecropis abyssinicaLC
Recorded all year

Great White Egret
Ardea albaLC
Recorded all year

Little Egret
Egretta garzettaLC
Recorded all year

Greenshank
Tringa nebulariaLC
Recorded all year

African Jacana
Actophilornis africanusLC
Recorded all year

Common Ostrich
Struthio camelusLC
Recorded all year

Purple Grenadier
Granatina ianthinogasterLC
Recorded all year

Blue-naped Mousebird
Urocolius macrourusLC
Recorded all year

Hoopoe
Upupa epopsLC
Recorded all year

House Sparrow
Passer domesticusLC
Recorded all year

Gull-billed Tern
Gelochelidon niloticaLC
Recorded all year

Great Cormorant
Phalacrocorax carboLC
Recorded all year

Little Grebe
Tachybaptus ruficollisLC
Recorded all year

Secretarybird
Sagittarius serpentariusEN
Recorded all year

Greater Flamingo
Phoenicopterus roseusLC
Recorded all year

White-bellied Bustard
Eupodotis senegalensisLC
Recorded all year

Squacco Heron
Ardeola ralloidesLC
Recorded all year

Glossy Ibis
Plegadis falcinellusLC
Recorded all year

White-winged Tern
Chlidonias leucopterusLC
Recorded all year

Moorhen
Gallinula chloropusLC
Recorded all year

Somali Ostrich
Struthio molybdophanesVU
Recorded all year

Avocet
Recurvirostra avosettaLC
Recorded all year

Black-crowned Night-heron
Nycticorax nycticoraxLC
Recorded all year

African Pygmy-falcon
Polihierax semitorquatusLC
Recorded all year

Crowned Eagle
Stephanoaetus coronatusNT
Recorded all year

Curlew Sandpiper
Calidris ferrugineaNT
Recorded all year

Red-and-yellow Barbet
Trachyphonus erythrocephalusLC
Recorded all year

Purple Heron
Ardea purpureaLC
Recorded all year

Osprey
Pandion haliaetusLC
Recorded all year

Grey Plover
Pluvialis squatarolaLC
Recorded all year

Whimbrel
Numenius phaeopusLC
Recorded all year

Rock Dove
Columba liviaLC
Recorded all year

Lanner Falcon
Falco biarmicusLC
Recorded all year

Spur-winged Goose
Plectropterus gambensisLC
Recorded all year

Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Dendrocygna bicolorLC
Recorded all year

Lesser Black-backed Gull
Larus fuscusLC
Recorded all year

Little Weaver
Ploceus luteolusLC
Recorded all year

Alpine Swift
Tachymarptis melbaLC
Recorded all year

Magpie Shrike
Urolestes melanoleucusLC
Recorded all year

Common Tern
Sterna hirundoLC
Recorded all year

Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinusLC
Recorded all year

Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpresLC
Recorded all year

Little Bittern
Ixobrychus minutusLC
Recorded all year

African Marsh Harrier
Circus ranivorusLC
Recorded all year

Barn Owl
Tyto albaLC
Recorded all year

Senegal Thick-knee
Burhinus senegalensisLC
Regularly Apr–Feb
Summer visitors
(48)Arrives to breed; scarce or absent in winter
Barn Swallow
Hirundo rusticaLC
Recorded all year

Common Sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucosLC
Regularly Jul–May

Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareolaLC
Regularly Jul–May

Wheatear
Oenanthe oenantheLC
Regularly Sep–Apr

Yellow Wagtail
Motacilla flavaLC
Regularly Sep–May

Spotted Flycatcher
Muscicapa striataLC
Regularly Oct–Apr

Little Stint
Calidris minutaLC
Regularly Jul–May

Willow Warbler
Phylloscopus trochilusLC
Regularly Sep–May

Ringed Plover
Charadrius hiaticulaLC
Regularly Aug–May

Buzzard
Buteo buteoLC
Regularly Oct–Apr

Ruff
Calidris pugnaxLC
Regularly Jul–May

Green Sandpiper
Tringa ochropusLC
Regularly Aug–Apr

European Bee-eater
Merops apiasterLC
Regularly Sep–May

Montagu's Harrier
Circus pygargusLC
Regularly Oct–Apr

Rufous-tailed Rock-thrush
Monticola saxatilisLC
Regularly Oct–Apr

Kestrel
Falco tinnunculusLC
Regularly Oct–Aug

Common Snipe
Gallinago gallinagoLC
Regularly Sep–Apr

Blackcap
Sylvia atricapillaLC
Regularly Oct–Mar

Western Marsh-harrier
Circus aeruginosusLC
Regularly Sep–May

House Martin
Delichon urbicumLC
Regularly Sep–May

Common Swift
Apus apusLC
Regularly Sep–May

Golden Oriole
Oriolus oriolusLC
Regularly Sep–May

Sand Martin
Riparia ripariaLC
Regularly Sep–May

Whinchat
Saxicola rubetraLC
Regularly Sep–Apr

Red-backed Shrike
Lanius collurioLC
Regularly Nov–Apr

Black-tailed Godwit
Limosa limosaNT
Regularly Jul–Apr

Tree Pipit
Anthus trivialisLC
Regularly Oct–Apr

Black-headed Gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundusLC
Regularly Aug–May

Nightingale
Luscinia megarhynchosLC
Regularly Oct–Apr

Sanderling
Calidris albaLC
Regularly Jul–May

Booted Eagle
Hieraaetus pennatusLC
Regularly Sep–Apr

Curlew
Numenius arquataNT
Regularly Jul–May

Northern Shoveler
Spatula clypeataLC
Regularly Oct–Mar

Temminck's Stint
Calidris temminckiiLC
Regularly Oct–Apr

Garden Warbler
Sylvia borinLC
Regularly Oct–May

Grey Wagtail
Motacilla cinereaLC
Regularly Sep–Mar

Whitethroat
Curruca communisLC
Regularly Nov–Apr

Sedge Warbler
Acrocephalus schoenobaenusLC
Regularly Nov–May

Common Reed-warbler
Acrocephalus scirpaceusLC
Regularly Sep–Jul

Garganey
Spatula querquedulaLC
Regularly Nov–Apr

Little Ringed Plover
Thinornis dubiusLC
Regularly Oct–Apr

Spotted Redshank
Tringa erythropusLC
Regularly Sep–Mar

European Honey-buzzard
Pernis apivorusLC
Regularly Oct–May

Hobby
Falco subbuteoLC
Regularly Oct–May

Egyptian Vulture
Neophron percnopterusEN
Regularly Aug–May

Bar-tailed Godwit
Limosa lapponicaNT
Regularly Apr–Feb

Cuckoo
Cuculus canorusLC
Regularly Oct–May

Nightjar
Caprimulgus europaeusLC
Regularly Nov–Apr
Passage migrants
(5)Seen mainly in spring and autumn migrationData: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made




