The Itombwe Massif is the one of the most Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in sub-Saharan Africa (Plumptre et al., 2003). This is over 50% of the Albertine Rift endemic birds (Plumptre et al., 2003) and 61% of the Albertine Rift endemics known from Itombwe (Kujirakwinja et al., 2019). Nearly half (83 species) of the total montane bird fauna of the African continent occurs in the Itombwe Massif, including 35 of 43 species and distinctive subspecies endemic to the Albertine Rift highlands and adjacent sub-montane forests (Butynski et al., 1997). Species richness was highest in Katasomwa with 70 species (56% of all captured species), lower in Kacheche with 55 species (43.6%), 54 species at Nirinja (42.8%) and lowest in Bushali with 32 species (25.4%). [Extracted from the article]