Birding in Zimbabwe

Birding in Zimbabwe is by far one of the most rewarding experiences any novice or serious birder can imagine.

With over 670 species Zimbabwe boasts varied habitats ranging from the lower Zambezi’s Southern Carmine Bee-eater breeding sites to the Blue Swallow’s Eastern highlands montane grasslands. To really experience all that Zimbabwe has to offer you need to at least sample a couple of these habitats with their different birds.

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The Mashonaland plateau’s main habitat is miombo woodland with its ‘miombo specials’ that many a birder dreams about – take the Spotted Creeper for example!

Matabeleland is much drier and has more acacia and a different set of birds. Then there is the Rhodes Matopos National Park with its spectacular granite formations, Hwange National Park with all its fantastic wildlife, the ruggedness of Chizarira National Park for the more self-contained adventurer, and Victoria Falls and Kazungula where you can combine birding with all sorts of touristy adventure activities. The drier west here shares many species with Botswana and they will only be found here.

Completely different is the Eastern Highlands with its mountains, forest and montane grasslands – and again a completely different set of restricted range birds – Swynnerton’s Robins, Chirinda Apalis and Roberts’s Warbler – and many more.

Masvingo has the Lake Mutirikwi Recreational Park and again many miombo specials as well as Swee Waxbills and Black Saw-wings, birds that are hard to find elsewhere in Zimbabwe.

This is a step away from the southeast lowveld and Gonarezhou National Park with more spectacular scenery and wildlife and affinities with Kruger and Mozambique on its borders.

The Zambezi Valley and and Kariba are again quite different. There is a lot of wildlife in these areas, the awesome Zambezi River and another set of birds, crimson-blue clouds of breeding Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, African Skimmers, herons, storks, Lilian’s Lovebirds… and the list goes on and on, so read more about these exciting destinations on the Site Map below. There are bird lists for many areas – some are including and a few are incomplete.

If you would like to notify BirdLife Zimbabwe send additions to gemsaf@mango.zw.