Egypt is blessed with over 400 species of birds passing through every winter to escape the cold of the northern hemisphere and find refuge in Africa.
While around 100 of these species are endemic to Egypt, the migratory birds come from diverse locations in Europe and Asia where some come from as far as Scandinavia and Siberia.
The diversity of these birds is quite something to behold; with birds of prey such as eagles and ospreys gliding in the heights, Flamingos and other wading birds staying near swamps and wetlands, or waterfowl like ducks and gulls living on fish in both fresh and salt water.
Most of these birds need rising hot air currents to keep them soaring high and not expend too much energy so the Mediterranean Sea is a no-go zone for them. This forces the birds to pass through Asia, namely Turkey and the Levant, all the way down the Sinai Peninsula, which is an important hotspot for birdwatchers.
Once they cross from Asia, they tend to stick to either the Nile basin all the way down further into Africa or keep to the Red Sea Coast hiding in its mountainous regions and salt marshes.
We will outline the areas where you can find particular bird types and note that the bird-watching season is in Autumn and Spring.
Also, you can find useful resources in the Migratory Soaring Birds Project under the patronage of the Egyptian Government and the United Nations Development Program among others.
Ras Mohamed National Park
While many believe that this park is aimed to preserve marine life and corals the park acts as a sizable sanctuary for the birds passing through to the rest of Egypt. The seaside nature of this site is ideal for the gulls and flamingos as well as some birds of prey like the osprey that catches fish. This video of a huge flock of storks resting at the entrance of the park went viral a few days ago.
St. Catherine
More inland than Ras Mohamed this holy site has attracted life around it since biblical times with the mountainous area providing adequate shelter for the bridies and their favorite food primarily insects that are abundant in the desert.
Cairo
Life finds a way even in a concrete jungle like Cairo. With its own flock of local escaped parakeets carving a home amid the pigeons and Kites on the island of Zamalek, many birds pass by the nearby Giza Zoo and pretty much any place near the Nile would ensure you come across these tiny passersbys. If you live in the garden riddled suburbs of Shiekh Zayed or New Cairo, leave some bread crumbs or rice out and enjoy the Hoopoes and song birds from a discrete window.
Fayoum
This small town near Cairo with a huge lake near the desert combines the agriculturally rich countryside with the dry desert in a contrasting landscape that many bird types can enjoy with Herons, Egrets, and Larks visiting earlier than the December visitors like Flamingos, Spoonbills, and Curlews.
North Coast
While it is not a well-known transit spot but many birds of the partridge and dove families pass by the Delta to the East along the North Coast promoting some local Bedouins to hunt quail and similar birds during that season. Seagulls and Kingfishers take advantage of the fish spawning period at the end of August to feed on the newly hatched small fish.
Aswan
Beyond the Aswan Dam to the south lies is one of the biggest manmade lakes in world where crocodiles and other species thrive giving the birds in transit a place with what they need to survive. As the fertile banks of the Nile have hibiscus trees and other greenery species like the Nile Valley Sunbird and palm-sized kingfisher can be seen among other parakeets and songbirds.
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