With more than 300 species recorded (excluding Mt Gorongosa) and a diversity of habitats, Gorongosa National Park offers great bird watching. Over 150 different species may be recorded in a single day. Serious birders should make a day trip to Mt Gorongosa. This is where most of the real specials can be found, including the eagerly sought-after endemic race of green-headed oriole. Unfortunately, self-drive isn’t allowed in the park due to security issues.
Birding Specials Treats for Avid Birders
(NE) near-endemic = lives in Mozambique and neighboring countries- Ayres’s hawk-eagle
- Black-fronted bush-shrike
- Black-winged bishop
- Broad-tailed paradise whydah
- Brown-necked parrot
- Chirinda apalis (NE)
- Collared palm-thrush
- Green-backed woodpecker
- Green-capped eremomela
- Green-headed oriole
- Green-winged pytilia
- Grey cuckoo-shrike
- Lemon-breasted canary
- Lesser seedcracker (NE)
- Magpie mannikin
- Moustached grass-warbler
- Orange-winged pytilia
- Pale batis
- Pallid honeyguide
- Pennant-winged nightjar
- Peter’s twinspot
- Purple-banded sunbird
- Racket-tailed roller
- Red-faced crombec
- Red-winged warbler
- Reichenow’s woodpecker
- Short-winged cisticola
- Silvery-cheeked hornbill
- Singing cisticola
- Southern hyliota
- Swynnerton’s robin (NE)
- Thick-billed cuckoo
- White-breasted cuckoo-shrike
- White-headed black chat
- White-tailed crested flycatcher
- Zambezi indigobird
- Zebra waxbill
Best Time for Bird Watching
The birdlife in Gorongosa is good year-round. However, the Wet season (November to April) is the best time for bird-watchers as this is when migratory birds are present. Because road conditions are very bad during the rains, the park closes from mid-December to the end of March. Therefore, November is the ideal month for bird watching. The best time for general wildlife viewing is during the middle and end of the Dry season, from July to October.