Because mountain gorillas share their habitat with many other fantastic animals, today we look at the importance of birds in our ecosystem. Next we take a close look at the Rwenzori Double-Collared Sunbird, endemic to the Albertine Rift Valley. Some of our students share that they see this sunbird in gardens feeding on nectar from flowers, insects, and spiders. The also share folklore such as when a person pierces or puckers his/her lips emulating a Rwenzori Double-Collared Sunbird’s long and curved bill it’s a sign that he/she wants to insult you. This lovely bird has a broad brilliant red band across its chest, black bill, legs, and feet.

Our next bird, the African Pygmy Kingfisher, impresses a lot of our students particularly when it comes to different names Rwandans attribute to it. According to geographic areas of the country: Murobyi, Nyiramurobyi, Nyiramurobori,and Rushoshwe are just a few of the local names given to this bird. I stress that to be able to distinguish African Pygmy Kingfisher from other kingfishers, we need to notice its blue back extending down to tail and a dark-blue crown when it is an adult.