Gonarezhou National Park is an excellent birding destination with a checklist of 420 species. The Save River and tributary Runde River, along with several large pans, support an amazing variety of waterbirds. Specials associated with the Save-Runde Confluence include the palm-nut vulture, green malkoha and the near-endemic lemon-breasted canary. Eagles and other raptors are well represented. Look out for the Verreaux’s eagles that nest on the Chilojo Cliffs, and the black storks that join them from November to April, when migratory birds are present.
Birding Specials Treats for Avid Birders
- African finfoot
- African grey hornbill
- African pitta
- Allen’s gallinule
- Bat hawk
- Black stork
- Black-throated wattle-eye
- Böhm’s spinetail
- Brown snake eagle
- Eastern nicator
- Green malkoha
- Lemon-breasted canary
- Little bittern
- Meves’s starling
- Mosque swallow
- Mottled spinetail
- Narina trogon
- Olive bush-shrike
- Palm-nut vulture
- Pel’s fishing-owl
- Red-billed helmet-shrike
- Rufous-bellied heron
- Saddle-billed stork
- Senegal lapwing
- Sombre greenbul
- Southern banded snake eagle
- Thick-billed cuckoo
- White-crested helmet-shrike
- White-headed black chat
- White-headed lapwing
Best Time for Bird Watching
Birding in Gonarezhou is typically good year-round, although November through April is the best time. This is when migratory birds from Europe and northern Africa are present and can be readily found. Also, many resident bird species are nesting during these months and can be seen in their breeding plumage. The best time for viewing wildlife is from June to October, during the middle and end of the Dry season.