Birdquest Tours finds Congo Peafowl in Lomako, DRC

[Anomalure]

 

 

News BIRDQUESTERS FIND THE HOLY GRAIL OF AFRICAN BIRDING!

To the best of our knowledge, and up until now, only one birder or ornithologist had ever seen a Congo Peafowl in the wild. The members of our successful Congo Peafowl Expedition this September became the 2nd-9th birders ever to do so! So far as we are aware the only other non-Congolese (largely hunters or trackers) ever to see this Holy Grail of African birding are a handful of Bonobo researchers and one photographer (who failed to capture it on film)!

Thanks to some great tracking by Mark Van Beirs, we all saw a female at roost. How he found this ultra-elusive, ultra-shy bird amongst the billion trees in the Lomako forest I will never know. Well done Mark for a truly star performance!

Mark Beaman

 

(source: http://www.birdquest-tours.com/news.cfm?Article=183)

 

Seems they have completed a dedicated Congo Peafowl-focused tour to the Lomako-Yokolala Faunal Reserve successfully, and even photographed a female on a roost. Incredible stuff!!!

 

Wonder if they saw Bonobos too...

Edited September 30, 2015 by Anomalure

[Anomalure]

Just found out that he saw Bonobos (!) too as well as Wolf's Mona Monkey, African Palm Civet, and Red River Hog among other things in Lomako. When can I go??

[offshorebirder]

Here is a fuller account of the birding tour and some of the difficulties encountered:

 

http://naturetravelnetwork.com/congo-peafowl-discovered/

[SafariChick]

Very amusingly written story - thanks for sharing @@offshorebirder and thanks for alerting us @@Anomalure. Not being a birder, I would be more excited to see bonobos personally but I can appreciate the passion and excitement of these birders.

[Tom Kellie]

Very amusingly written story - thanks for sharing @@offshorebirder and thanks for alerting us @@Anomalure. Not being a birder, I would be more excited to see bonobos personally but I can appreciate the passion and excitement of these birders.

 

~ @@SafariChick

 

I'm with you on that.

Although I love observing avian behavior I'm far less committed to birds than gifted birders.

Observing bonobos in their native habitat would almost certainly choke me up.

Tears flow when I see the sublime firsthand.

Tom K.

[Anomalure]

Yes, Bonobos and the other inner Congo Basin endemic primates in Lomako/Kokolopori are certainly around the top of my list of future trips in Africa. Good to know that Lomako at least is actually possible.... If possible, I'd like to see the peacock too.