Botswana Parks
By Anthony Ham
Anthony is a renowned Africa expert and author of many Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the 'Botswana & Namibia' guide.
Nxai Pan is a very good destination for safari-goers interested in birding. More than 200 bird species have been recorded here. The different habitats – ranging from grassland, mopane woodland and acacia scrub – ensure a wide range of species. On the open pan, kori bustards and secretary birds mingle with the visiting white storks. Many migrants are added to the mix in the wet summer months, from November to April.
Notable Birds in Nxai Pan NP
Common
Birding Rating
- Expert Rating
- User Rating
Birding Specials –Treats for Avid Birders
- Abdim’s stork
- Barred owl
- African fish eagle
- Black bustard
- Black-cheeked waxbill
- Black-winged stilt
- Blue-cheeked bee-eater
- Bronze-winged courser
- Burchell’s coucal
- Burchell's courser
- Capped wheatear
- Dusky lark
- Eastern paradise whydah
- Gabar goshawk
- Great white pelican
- Greater flamingo
- White-browed robin-chat
- Kori bustard
- Lesser flamingo
- Martial eagle
- Meyer’s parrot
- Ostrich
- Pale chanting goshawk
- Southern pied babbler
- Pied avocet
- Pin-tailed whydah
- Pink-backed pelican
- Red-billed francolin
- Red-necked falcon
- Saddle-billed stork
- Secretary bird
- Shaft-tailed whydah
- Southern anteater chat
- Temminck's courser
- Violet-eared waxbill
- Wattled crane
- White stork
Best Time for Bird Watching
Nxai Pan is a great park for bird watching any month of the year. The wetter months, from November to April, is when the park is at its finest for birders. This is the best time for migrants in general, and also the time when a lot of birds are breeding and show their breeding plumage. Wildlife viewing at the pans is at its best around the same time.
Want to Visit Nxai Pan NP?
Birding Rating
- Expert Rating
- User Rating
Facts & Figures
