Nxai Pan National Park is a very good destination for safari-goers interested in birding: more than 200 bird species have been recorded here. The different habitats, including grassland, and acacia shrub, ensure a wide range of species. Many migrants from Europe and North Africa are added to the mix in the wet summer months, from November to April. During this time, resident kori bustards, ostriches and secretary birds mingle on the open pans with visiting white storks.
Birding Specials Treats for Avid Birders
- Abdim’s stork
- African barred owlet
- African fish eagle
- Black-cheeked waxbill
- Black-winged stilt
- Blue-cheeked bee-eater
- Bronze-winged courser
- Burchell’s coucal
- Burchell’s courser
- Capped wheatear
- Common ostrich
- Dusky lark
- Eastern paradise whydah
- Gabar goshawk
- Great white pelican
- Greater flamingo
- Kori bustard
- Lesser flamingo
- Martial eagle
- Meyer’s parrot
- Northern black korhaan
- Pale chanting goshawk
- Pied avocet
- Pink-backed pelican
- Pin-tailed whydah
- Red-billed spurfowl
- Red-necked falcon
- Saddle-billed stork
- Secretary bird
- Shaft-tailed whydah
- Southern anteater chat
- Southern pied babbler
- Temminck’s courser
- Violet-eared waxbill
- Wattled crane
- White stork
- White-browed robin-chat
Best Time for Bird Watching
Nxai Pan is great for bird watching at any time of the year, but is at its finest during the wetter months, from November to April. This is when large numbers of migrants are present in the park. It’s also when many birds are breeding and show their mating plumage. Conveniently, wildlife viewing at the pans is at its best around the same time.