Kruger Birds
Admire The Variety In The National Park

If you've been to the park before and are visiting again, spotting, identifying and marking off birds on a Kruger National Park bird list is a really rewarding and fun way to enjoy the park.

If you're looking for a list of the birds in Kruger National Park, rest camp shops sell them.

Keep an eye out for the plentiful and beautiful lilac-breasted rollers with their pastel plumage.

Look for pretty bee-eaters which come in many varieties, including little and white-fronted bee-eaters.

If you're bird watching in the summer months, you'll be lucky to see the red carmine bee-eater, which flies further south at this time of year.

Get a bird book to aid with identification. We use and recommend Sasol Birds of Southern Africa. It has lovely watercolour paintings to help you identify birds by their characteristic features and a summary of where each bird species is found. The book does lack details of bird behaviour and habitats, so you may want to invest in another book that provides more detail in these areas.

Rest camps and picnic spots are great places to look for birds. Although Kruger National Park birds can be pests near eating areas trying to pick up scraps or chips off your plate, you can take nice photos if you don't have a good zoom on your camera. Common birds at eating areas are:

• Glossy starlings
• Red hornbills
• Yellow hornbills
• Weavers

Although rarer, ostriches are found in the park, often in open plains. Other larger birds to look out for in the grass are:

• Kori bustards
• Black-bellied korhaans
• Ground hornbills

Bird watching hides, particularly Panic Hide near Skukuza, present you with an opportunity to sit and watch the birds in exquisite, peaceful surroundings. You can spend ages at the bird hides and sometimes see other game such as hippos. If you're a photographer, take your biggest lens to get some phenomenal bird photos!

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