Malawi offers more than 650 bird species, which is an impressive number for a small country. Lake Malawi is great for general waterbirds such as kingfishers, cormorants and egrets, while fish eagles, impressive creatures with a 2m/6.5ft wingspan, are never far away. Liwonde National Park offers country specials like Böhm’s bee-eater, brown-breasted barbet and Lilian’s lovebird. Also of great interest to birders are the high-mountain plateaus of Nyika and Viphya, and the of Dzalanyama Forest. Migratory birds are present from November to April.
Endemic & Near-endemic Birds
(E) endemic = only lives in Malawi(NE) near-endemic = lives in Malawi and neighboring countries
- Babbling starling (NE)
- Black-lored cisticola (NE)
- Chirping cisticola (NE)
- Cholo alethe (NE)
- Fülleborn’s boubou (NE)
- Malawi batis (NE)
- Olive-flanked robin-chat (NE)
- Yellow-throated apalis (E)
Other Birding Specials Treats for Avid Birders
- African cuckoo hawk
- African finfoot
- African fish eagle
- Anchieta’s sunbird
- Barred long-tailed cuckoo
- Bar-tailed trogon
- Bat hawk
- Bertram’s weaver
- Black-and-white flycatcher
- Black-browed greenbul
- Black-throated wattle-eye
- Blue swallow
- Böhm’s bee-eater
- Broad-billed roller
- Brown-breasted barbet
- Cabanis’s greenbul
- Chestnut-backed sparrow-weaver
- Chirping cisticola
- Crayshaw’s [red-winged] francolin
- Denham’s bustard
- Dickinson’s kestrel
- Eastern nicator
- European honey buzzard
- Green malkoha
- Green twinspot
- Green-backed woodpecker
- Green-headed oriole
- Green-winged pytilia
- Grey sunbird
- Grey-headed bush-shrike
- Grey-olive greenbul
- Gull-billed tern
- Lesser kestrel
- Lilian’s lovebird
- Livingstone’s flycatcher
- Miombo pied barbet
- Montane marsh widowbird
- Mosque swallow
- Mottled spinetail
- Mountain yellow warbler
- Moustached green tinkerbird
- Olive-headed weaver
- Pale-billed hornbill
- Pel’s fishing-owl
- Racket-tailed roller
- Red-billed helmet-shrike
- Red-headed weaver
- Red-necked falcon
- Reichenow’s woodpecker
- Rudd’s apalis
- Rufous-bellied heron
- Sharpe’s akalat
- Southern brown-throated weaver
- Souza’s shrike
- Square-tailed drongo
- Stierling’s woodpecker
- Swallow-tailed bee-eater
- Wattled crane
- White-headed black chat
- White-starred robin
- Whyte’s barbet
- Wing-snapping cisticola
- Woodwards’ batis
- Yellow-browed seedeater
- Yellow-streaked greenbul
Best Time for Bird Watching
Bird watching in Malawi is excellent throughout the year. The best time, however, is during the Wet season (November to April) when migratory birds are present. Wildlife viewing is better in the Dry season (May to October).
Best Parks for Birding Includes Birding Rating
Liwonde National Park has some of the Malawi specials and is very good for general water and woodland birds. The grassland and forest habitats of Nyika National Park harbor a very different range of specials. Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve’s is very rewarding birding territory, and there are many raptors at this less-developed reserve.
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Liwonde NP
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Nkhotakota WR
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Nyika NP
Recommended Birding Books
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Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa
The one southern African guide with complete Malawi coverage.
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Birds of Africa: South of the Sahara
Complete for Malawi, but within a vast area of coverage.
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Birds of Zambia (app)
Dedicated Zambia field guide that’s near-complete for Malawi.
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Roberts Bird Guide (2nd edition; book and app)
Superb, but focused on species recorded south of the Zambezi.