SUB-REGION
Southern Africa
SIZE
30,360 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
A temperate, highland avifauna
Approximately 290 recorded species
Near-endemics (NE)
Drakensberg Rockjumper
Drakensberg Siskin
Mountain Pipit
Birds occurring in only two territories of the ABC region but not NE (1/2)
Yellow-breasted Pipit
Other taxa of interest, including endemic subspecies (ESS)
South African Shelduck
African Black Duck
Grey-winged Francolin
Swainson’s Spurfowl
Blue Korhaan
Northern Black Korhaan
African Snipe
Southern Bald Ibis
Bearded Vulture | Lammergeier
Cape Vulture
Verreaux’s Eagle
Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk
Black Harrier
Jackal Buzzard
African Grass Owl
Ground Woodpecker
Cape Batis
Bokmakierie
Southern Fiscal
White-necked Raven
Fairy Flycatcher (rudebecki)
Grey Tit (arens)
Eastern Long-billed Lark (semitorquata)
Large-billed Lark (harei)
White-throated Swallow
Greater Striped Swallow
Cape Grassbird
Barratt’s Warbler (cathkinensis)
Little Rush Warbler
Wailing Cisticola (lais)
Levaillant’s Cisticola (tinniens)
Neddicky (fulvicapilla)
Cloud Cisticola (major)
Wing-snapping Cisticola (ayresii)
Karoo Prinia (exultans)
Layard’s Warbler (ESS barnesi)
Cape White-eye
Gurney’s Sugarbird
Cape Starling
Pied Starling
Olive Thrush
Cape Rock Thrush
Sentinel Rock Thrush
African Stonechat (ESS oreobates)
Buff-streaked Chat
Sickle-winged Chat (ESS hypernephela)
Ant-eating Chat
Mountain Wheatear
Familiar Chat
Malachite Sunbird
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Cape Sparrow (vicinus)
Cape Weaver
Yellow Bishop (approximans)
Red-collared Widowbird
Long-tailed Widowbird (progne)
Swee Waxbill
Red-headed Finch
Cape Wagtail
Cape Longclaw
Nicholson’s Pipit (petricolus)
African Rock Pipit | Yellow-tufted Pipit
Black-throated Canary (impigra)
Yellow Canary (ESS guillarmodi)
Streaky-headed Seedeater (endemion)
White-throated Canary (orangensis)
Cape Canary (thompsonae)
Black-headed Canary (alario)
Cape Bunting (basutoensis + reidi)
MAIN HABITATS
Alpine moorlands, rocky mountainsides
BIRD AREAS
Lesotho highlands Endemic Bird Area (EBA)
Southern African grasslands EBA
6 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Sani Top, Mafika-Lisiu Pass and Katse Dam
TIMING (Nov–Jan)
Best in summer when birds breed and Mountain Pipit is present (Nov–Mar)
Avoid winter (May–Aug)
RESOURCES (see also South Africa)
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)
Roberts Bird Guide 2
Sasol eBirds Southern Africa
Field guides
Sasol Birds of Southern Africa by Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey, Warwick Tarboton, Niall Perrins, Dominic Rollinson & Peter Ryan (2020)
Guide to the Birds of the Roma Campus, National University of Lesotho by D Ambrose & D H Maphisa (1999)
Sounds
Southern African Bird Sounds by Guy Gibbon
Site guides
Southern African Birdfinder by Callan Cohen, Claire Spottiswoode & Jonathan Rossouw (2006)
Atlases
Southern African Bird Atlas Project 2 (SABAP2), a member of the African Bird Atlas Project
The Status and Distribution of Birds in Lesotho by P E Osborne & B J Tigar (1990)
Further reading
Roberts – Birds of Southern Africa edited by P A R Hockey, W R J Dean & P G Ryan (2005)
The 2015 Eskom Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland edited by Martin R Taylor, Faansie Peacock & Ross M Wanless (2015)
Lesotho by Keith Barnes in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Birds of Lesotho: a Guide to Distribution Past and Present by Kurt Bonde (1993)
Articles in Ostrich, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
Maloti-Drakensberg Park – UNESCO World Heritage List
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Lesotho
Other bird or conservation organisations active in Lesotho include –
Birdlife Lesotho
Peace Parks Foundation: Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation and Development Area