A treat awaits birding enthusiasts who visit the Drakensberg and Natal Midlands as the skies etch the graceful shapes of vultures floating on the updrafts.
The montane grassland of the Central Drakensberg with its slopes covered in protea trees and pockets of evergreen forests, are inhabited by 300 species of birds, of which 32 are endemic.
You can be assured of adding a few birding gems to your life-list whilst staying in the Drakensberg and Natal Midlands.
Birding enthusiasts can expect to see the following special bird species:
• Bearded Vulture
• Cape Vulture
• Gurney Sugarbird
• African Crowned Eagle
• Forest Canary
• Chorister Robin Chat
• White-Starred Robin
• Bush Blackcap
• Barratt’s Warbler
There are a number of vulture hides and vulture feeding sites available in the Drakensberg. See the “Bone eaters of the Drakensberg” – the endangered Bearded Vulture.
A 25% reduction in numbers of breeding pairs of the Bearded Vulture has been recorded in the last 25-30 years. There are only about 30 pairs of birds left in Kwazulu-Natal and to experience them up close from one of the vultures hides has got to be a bucket list item on every birders list.
A vulture count is held annually in September at the Vulture feeding site to monitor the number of Bearded Vultures in the area. This is to ensure the long-term survival of this spectacular bird and create international awareness of both the Bearded and Cape vultures.
| □ | Acacia Pied Crow |
| □ | African (Purple) W oodpecker |
| □ | African Barbet |
| □ | African Black Heron |
| □ | African Black W oodpecker |
| □ | African Buzzard |
| □ | African Canary |
| □ | African Cuckoo BrubruDove |
| □ | African Dusky Lapwing |
| □ | African FishHoopoe |
| □ | African Flycatcher |
| □ | African Goshawk |
| □ | African Grass Spurfowl |
| □ | African Harrier |
| □ | African Harrier- Bulbul |
| □ | African Kingfisher |
| □ | African MarshBittern |
| □ | African Olive Stork |
| □ | African Palm W oodpecker |
| □ | African ParadiseLapwing |
| □ | African Pied Mousebird |
| □ | African Pygmy Chat |
| □ | African Reed Nightjar |
| □ | African Sacred Camaroptera |
| □ | African Scops Starling |
| □ | African Sparrow-lark |
| □ | African Stork |
| □ | African Swift |
| □ | African Swift |
| □ | African W agtail |
| □ | African W arbler |
| □ | African W attled Cisticola |
| □ | African W eaver |
| □ | Alpine W ryneck |
| □ | Amethyst W heatear |
| □ | Amur Kingfisher |
| □ | Ant-eating Falcon |
| □ | Arrow-marked Crow |
| □ | Barn W idowbird |
| □ | Barratt’s Nightjar |
| □ | Bar-throated Crane |
| □ | Bearded Martin |
| □ | Bearded Prinia |
| □ | Black Blackcap |
| □ | Black Cisticola |
| □ | Black Francolin |
| □ | Black Grassbird |
| □ | Black Harrier |
| □ | Black Thrush |
| □ | Black W arbler |
| □ | Black W eaver |
| □ | Black-backed Swamphen |
| □ | Black-bellied Duck |
| □ | Black-collared Cuckoo |
| □ | Black-crowned Night Bunting |
| □ | Black-crowned Robin-chat |
| □ | Black-headed Bunting |
| □ | Black-headed Spoonbill |
| □ | Black-rumped Duck |
| □ | Black-shouldered Cisticola |
| □ | Blacksmith Cisticola |
| □ | Black-throated Eagle |
| □ | Black-winged Cisticola |
| □ | Black-winged W axbill |
| □ | Blue Francolin |
| □ | Blue Owl |
| □ | Blue-mantled Crested Lark |
| □ | Booted Hornbill |
| □ | Brimstone Eagle |
| □ | Broad-tailed Nightjar |
| □ | Bronze Crane |
| □ | Brown-backed Buttonquail |
| □ | Brown-hooded Chat |
| □ | Brown-throated Shoveler |
| □ | Buff-spotted Kite |
| □ | Buff-streaked Falcon |
| □ | Buffy Sugarbird |
| □ | Burchell’s Flycatcher |
| □ | Bush Darter |
| □ | Cape Batis |
| □ | Cape Crane |
| □ | Cape Cuckoo |
| □ | Cape Dove |
| □ | Cape Eagle- Starling |
| □ | Cape Egret |
| □ | Cape Glossy W arbler |
| □ | Cape Goose |
| □ | Cape Moorhen |
| □ | Cape Mousebird |
| □ | Cape Pigeon |
| □ | Cape Pipit |
| □ | Cape Robin-chat |
| □ | Cape Rock Sandpiper |
| □ | Cape Stilt |
| □ | Cape Teal |
| □ | Cape Tit |
| □ | Cape TurtleHarrier |
| □ | Cape W agtail |
| □ | Cardinal Puffback |
| □ | Chestnut-backed W arbler |
| □ | Chestnut-vented Martin |
| □ | Chinspot Cuckoo |
| □ | Chorister Teal |
| □ | Cinnamon-breasted Dove |
| □ | Cloud Firefinch |
| □ | CombHeron |
| □ | Common (Kurrichane) Duck |
| □ | Common (Steppe ) Eagle |
| □ | Common Bishop |
| □ | Common Grebe |
| □ | Common House Shrike |
| □ | Common Kite |
| □ | Common Parrot |
| □ | Common Rail |
| □ | Common Ringed Swallow |
| □ | Common Snipe |
| □ | Common Sparrow | |
| □ | Common Swift | |
| □ | Common Thrush | |
| □ | Common W arbler | |
| □ | Coqui Lark | |
| □ | Corn Francolin | |
| □ | CrestedCuckoo | |
| □ | Croaking Firefinch | |
| □ | Crowned Cisticola | |
| □ | Crowned Ibis | |
| □ | Cuckoo Kingfisher | |
| □ | Curlew Thrush | |
| □ | Dark-capped Dove | |
| □ | Dark-capped Yellow Openbill | |
| □ | Denham’s Duck | |
| □ | Desert Fiscal | |
| □ | Diederik Greenbul | |
| □ | Drakensberg Swallow | |
| □ | Drakensberg Tern | |
| □ | Drakensberg Vulture | |
| □ | Dusky Canary | |
| □ | Eastern Long-billed Coot | |
| □ | Egyptian Babbler | |
| □ | Eurasian Bustard | |
| □ | Eurasian Cuckooshrike | |
| □ | Eurasian Golden Spurfowl | |
| □ | European Sparrowhawk | |
| □ | European Tern | |
| □ | Fairy Lark | |
| □ | Familiar Falcon | |
| □ | Fan-tailed Plover | |
| □ | Fiery-necked Sparrowhawk | |
| □ | Fiscal Lark | |
| □ | Forest Eagle | |
| □ | Forest Egret | |
| □ | Fork-tailed Heron | |
| □ | Freckled Sparrowhawk | |
| □ | Gabar Barbet | |
| □ | Garden Oriole | |
| □ | Giant Chat | |
| □ | Glossy Canary | |
| □ | Golden-breasted Drongo | |
| □ | Golden-tailed Quail | |
| □ | Goliath Bunting | |
| □ | Great Indigobird | |
| □ | Great ReedOriole | |
| □ | Great Spotted Greenshank | |
| □ | Great W agtail | |
| □ | Greater Buttonquail | |
| □ | Greater Double-collared W hite-eye | |
| □ | Greater Striped W idowbird | |
| □ | Green Prinia | |
| □ | Green-backed Eagle | |
| □ | Grey Bush-Shrike | |
| □ | Grey Crowned Francolin | |
| □ | Grey Harrier | |
| □ | Grey Stint | |
| □ | Grey-headed Bishop | |
| □ | Grey-headed Duck | |
| □ | Grey-winged Longclaw | |
| □ | Ground Quail-finch | |
| □ | Groundscraper Sandpiper | |
| □ | Gurney’s W eaver | |
| □ | Hadeda Canary | |
| □ | Half-collared Chat | |
| □ | Helmeted Bishop | |
| □ | Horus Raven | |
| □ | Hottentot Robin-chat | |
| □ | House W agtail | |
| □ | Icterine Osprey | |
| □ | Jackal Eagle | |
| □ | Jacobin Guineafowl | |
| □ | Karoo Sandpiper | |
| □ | Kittlitz’s Swallow | |
| □ | Klaas’s Gull | |
| □ | Kurrichane Saw-wing | |
| □ | Lanner Kingfisher | |
| □ | Large-billed Cormorant | |
| □ | Laughing Hawk | |
| □ | Lazy Flufftail | |
| □ | Lemon Hawk | |
| □ | Lesser Buzzard | |
| □ | Lesser Canary | |
| □ | Lesser Grey Tit-Babbler | |
| □ | Lesser Striped W idowbird | |
| □ | Lesser Swamp Owl | |
| □ | Levaillant’s Flufftail | |
| □ | Little Batis | |
| □ | Little Cuckoo | |
| □ | Little Cuckooshrike | |
| □ | Little Jacana | |
| □ | Little Robin | |
| □ | Little RushOwl | |
| □ | Little W arbler | |
| □ | Little W axbill | |
| □ | Long-billed Sunbird | |
| □ | Long-crested Ibis | |
| □ | Long-tailed Paradise Pipit | |
| □ | Long-tailed Plover | |
| □ | Maccoa Hobby | |
| □ | Malachite Cisticola | |
| □ | Malachite W hydah | |
| □ | Marsh Owl | |
| □ | Marsh Starling | |
| □ | Marsh Thrush | |
| □ | Martial Ibis | |
| □ | Melodious Cormorant | |
| □ | Mocking CliffFinch | |
| □ | Montagu’s BokmakierieDove | |
| □ | Mountain Myna | |
| □ | Mountain Pipit | |
| □ | Namaqua Heron | |
| □ | Natal W arbler | |
| □ | Olive Duck | |
| □ | Olive Quelea | |
| □ | Olive SecretarybirdThrush | |
| □ | Orange-breasted Penduline-Tit |
| □ | Pale Lark |
| □ | Pale-crowned Flufftail |
| □ | Pallid Boubou |
| □ | Peregrine Kingfisher |
| □ | Pied Cisticola |
| □ | Pied Goshawk |
| □ | Pied W arbler |
| □ | Pin-tailed Pipit |
| □ | Plain-backed Sunbird |
| □ | Purple Bush-Shrike |
| □ | Red-backed Vulture |
| □ | Red-billed Kite |
| □ | Red-billed Rockjumper |
| □ | Red-billed Swift |
| □ | Red-breasted W ood-hoopoe |
| □ | Red-capped Coucal |
| □ | Red-chested HamerkopBittern |
| □ | Red-chested Lapwing |
| □ | Red-collared Plover |
| □ | Red-eyed Heron |
| □ | Red-faced Snipe |
| □ | Red-fronted Shelduck |
| □ | Red-headed Kingfisher |
| □ | Red-headed Swift |
| □ | Red-knobbed Flycatcher |
| □ | Red-necked W arbler |
| □ | Red-throated Quelea |
| □ | Red-winged Mannikin |
| □ | Red-winged W arbler |
| □ | Reed Flycatcher |
| □ | Rock Chat |
| □ | Rock Heron |
| □ | Rock Shrike |
| □ | Rufous-breastedW arbler |
| □ | Rufous-naped Crake |
| □ | Sabota Crake |
| □ | Sand Siskin |
| □ | Sedge Owl |
| □ | Sentinel RockSeedeater |
| □ | Shelley’s Martin |
| □ | Short-tailed Sunbird |
| □ | Sickle-winged Finch |
| □ | Sombre Bee-eater |
| □ | South African CliffW oodpecker |
| □ | South African Tit |
| □ | Southern Bald Canary |
| □ | Southern Black Lark |
| □ | Southern Black Martin |
| □ | Southern Double-collared W hydah |
| □ | Southern Dove |
| □ | Southern Grey-headed W arbler |
| □ | Southern Ground- Buzzard |
| □ | Southern Masked Pigeon |
| □ | Southern Red Cuckoo |
| □ | Southern Swallow |
| □ | Southern W hite-faced Starling |
| □ | Speckled Sparrow |
| □ | Speckled Stork |
| □ | Spectacled Pipit |
| □ | Spike-heeled Crake |
| □ | Spotted Eagle- Starling |
| □ | Spotted Lark |
| □ | Spotted Sandpiper |
| □ | Spur-winged Barbet |
| □ | Squacco Bustard |
| □ | Streaky-headed Tinkerbird |
| □ | Striped Lapwing |
| □ | Striped Sunbird |
| □ | Swainson’s W arbler |
| □ | Swee Petronia |
| □ | Tawny-flanked Swallow |
| □ | Thick-billed Pipit |
| □ | Three-banded Swallow |
| □ | Verreaux’s Ibis |
| □ | Village Pipit |
| □ | Violet-backed W axbill |
| □ | Wailing Flycatcher |
| □ | Wattled W axbill |
| □ | Western Barn Starling |
| □ | Western Cattle Kestrel |
| □ | Western Yellow NeddickySparrow |
| □ | WesternSpurfowl |
| □ | Whiskered Roller |
| □ | White W eaver |
| □ | White-backed Honeybird |
| □ | White-bellied W idowbird |
| □ | White-breasted Flycatcher |
| □ | White-browed Scrub Swift |
| □ | White-faced W histlingHoneyguide |
| □ | White-necked Swift |
| □ | White-rumped Robin |
| □ | White-starred Tchagra |
| □ | White-throated Teal |
| □ | White-throated W oodpecker |
| □ | White-winged Pochard |
| □ | White-winged RuffThick-knee |
| □ | Willow Owl |
| □ | Wing-snapping Flycatcher |
| □ | W ood Thrush |
| □ | Wattled Goose |
| □ | Yellow Cuckoo |
| □ | Yellow Egret |
| □ | Yellow-billed Cisticola |
| □ | Yellow-billed Honeyguide |
| □ | Yellow-billed Kestrel |
| □ | Yellow-billed W eaver |
| □ | Yellow-breasted Sunbird |
| □ | Yellow-crowned Cuckoo |
| □ | Yellow-fronted Egret |
| □ | Yellow-throated Stonechat |
| □ | Yellow-throated W oodlandOwl |
| □ | Zitting Flycatcher |
Win this 6 night holiday in the Drakensberg. We are doing market research as to how Covid 19 has changed the way people travel. Please take the survey. This is your chance to have your say and at the same time win big.
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