Birds & Birding
Flamingos of East Africa: The Rift Valley Soda Lakes and Where to See Them
Lesser and greater flamingos gather on East Africa's Rift Valley soda lakes. Why they move between lakes, where they breed and where to see them now.
A soda lake ringed with pink flamingos is one of the great sights of East Africa. The region’s alkaline lakes in the Great Rift Valley are home to huge numbers of flamingos, but the birds move constantly between lakes, so knowing where they are at any moment is part of the challenge.
Two species
The lesser flamingo is smaller, deeper pink, with a dark red bill, and by far the more numerous. It feeds on tiny blue-green algae that thrive in very salty, alkaline water, filtering them from the surface with its bill held upside down. The greater flamingo is taller and paler, with a pink bill tipped in black, and feeds on small invertebrates from the mud as well as algae.
Why flamingos move
The algae that lesser flamingos eat depend on the chemistry of the water. When heavy rains raise lake levels and dilute the water, the algae decline and the birds move to other lakes. Since about 2013, rising water levels at several Kenyan lakes, including Lake Nakuru and Lake Bogoria, have changed the patterns of recent decades, and flamingos have become less predictable at places once famous for them.
Where they breed
Almost all East Africa’s lesser flamingos breed at one place: Lake Natron in northern Tanzania, a caustic, shallow soda lake near the active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai. The harsh conditions keep predators away from the nests. Because the species depends on so few breeding sites, it is listed as near threatened, and protecting Lake Natron is vital.
Where to see flamingos
- Lake Bogoria and Lake Elementaita, Kenya: often hold good numbers, depending on conditions.
- Lake Nakuru, Kenya: numbers are now much lower than in the past, but flamingos still visit.
- Lake Natron, Tanzania: remote but spectacular, especially when the birds are breeding.
- Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara, Tanzania: flamingos visit the soda lakes, in variable numbers.
- Empakaai Crater, Tanzania: its crater lake sometimes holds flamingos.
Your guide will know recent reports. If flamingos are high on your list, tell us and we will plan around the best current site.
Read our guides to Lake Nakuru and Lake Baringo and Bogoria.
We plan private safaris across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, and write from time spent in these parks.
