Moçambique | Mozambique

SUB-REGION
Southern Africa

SIZE
799,380 km²

BIRDS AND BIRDING

SPECIES
Diversity
Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 750 recorded species

Endemics (E)
Namuli Apalis (EN)

Near-endemics (NE), including endemic subspecies (ESS)
Woodwards’ Batis
Rufous-winged Cisticola
Rudd’s Apalis (ESS ruddi)
Neergaard’s Sunbird
Pink-throated Twinspot
Lemon-breasted Canary | Lemon-breasted Seedeater

Birds occurring in only two territories of the ABC region but not NE (1/2), including ESS
Kretschmer’s Longbill
Roberts’s Warbler | Briar Warbler
Chirinda Apalis
Long-billed Forest Warbler | Long-billed Tailorbird (ESS sousae)
Red-capped Forest Warbler | African Tailorbird
Dapple-throat | Dappled Mountain Robin (ESS orostruthus)
Brown Scrub Robin
Thyolo Alethe | Cholo Alethe (ESS namuli)

Birds best found in two territories but occurring in more (B2)
Olive-headed Weaver

Zambezian endemics or near-endemics occurring in Mozambique, including ESS
Pale-billed Hornbill
Racket-tailed Roller
Böhm’s Bee-eater
Whyte’s Barbet
Stierling’s Woodpecker
Dickinson’s Kestrel
Lilian’s Lovebird | Nyasa Lovebird
Souza’s Shrike
White-tailed Blue Flycatcher
Cinnamon-breasted Tit
Miombo Tit
Red-capped Crombec
Stierling’s Wren-Warbler (ESS olivascens)
Miombo Blue-eared Starling
Meves’s Starling
Boulder Chat
Kurrichane Thrush
Miombo Scrub Robin
Collared Palm Thrush
Miombo Rock Thrush
Arnot’s Chat | White-headed Black Chat
Anchieta’s Sunbird | Red-and-blue Sunbird
Eastern Miombo Sunbird (ESS amicorum)
Shelley’s Sunbird
White-bellied Sunbird | White-breasted Sunbird
Olive-headed Weaver (B2)
Red-throated Twinspot | Peters’s Twinspot
Zambezi Indigobird | Green Indigobird
Broad-tailed Paradise Whydah
Reichard’s Seedeater
Black-eared Seedeater

Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Kirk’s Francolin
African Quail
Usambara Nightjar
Grey-breasted Green Pigeon
Steppe Whimbrel (BT)
Cape Gull
Ngami Owlet
Southern Olive Woodpecker
Grey-headed Parrot
East African Pitta
Four-colored Bushshrike
Anchieta’s Tchagra
Eastern Saw-wing
African Reed Warbler
Mozambique Forest Warbler (E)
Maputaland Scrub Robin (1/2)
Southern Olive-flanked Ground Robin | Olive-flanked Robin-Chat (1/2)
Black-fronted Red Bishop
Red-backed Mannikin
Spectacled Quailfinch | African Quailfinch
Vincent’s Bunting (B2)
Three-streaked Bunting

MAIN HABITATS
Coastal forest, montane forest, miombo woodland, floodplain grassland

BIRD AREAS
Eastern Zimbabwe mountains Endemic Bird Area (EBA)
South African forests EBA
South-east African coast EBA
Tanzania – Malawi mountains EBA
16 Important Bird Areas

BIRDING SITES
Serra Jeci/Njesi Highlands (Mount Chitagal, Mount Sanga and Njesi Plateau), Mount Inago, Namuli Massif, Mount Mabu and Mount Chiperone for Namuli Apalis and Long-billed (Mozambique) Forest Warbler (ESS sousae), Red-capped Forest Warbler (metopias), Dapple-throat (ESS orostruthus), Thyolo Alethe (ESS namuli) and Olive-flanked Ground Robin (ESS gurue), as well as African Black Duck, Hildebrandt’s Spurfowl, Montane (Usambara) Nightjar (guttifer), Freckled Nightjar, Scarce Swift, Livingstone’s Turaco (livingstonii), African Olive Pigeon, Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon, Lemon Dove, Augur Buzzard, Cape Eagle-Owl (mackinderi), Bar-tailed Trogon, Green Barbet (belcheri), Red-throated Wryneck, Rock Kestrel, Dark Batis, Malawi Batis, Black-fronted Bushshrike (sandgroundi), Grey Cuckooshrike, Green-headed Oriole (chlorocephalus), White-necked Raven, White-tailed Crested Flycatcher (subcaerulea), Black-browed Mountain Greenbul, Olive-headed Greenbul, Little Greenbul (zombensis), Placid Greenbul, Yellow-streaked Greenbul (vincenti), Red-throated Rock Martin (fusciventris), African Red-rumped Swallow, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler (ESS quelimanensis), African Yellow Warbler (natalensis), Evergreen Forest Warbler (granti), Singing Cisticola (muenzneri), Rock-loving Cisticola (lurio), Wailing Cisticola (semifasciatus), White-winged Apalis (macphersoni), Black-headed Apalis (ESS tenebricosa), African Hill Babbler (stierlingi), Orange Ground Thrush, Olive Thrush (milanjensis), Cape Robin-Chat (iolaema), East Coast Akalat (bensoni), Swynnerton’s Robin (swynnertoni), White-starred Robin (orientalis), African Stonechat (promiscuus), Mocking Cliff Chat (subrufipennis), Familiar Chat (falkensteini), Olive Sunbird (alfredi), Forest Double-collared Sunbird, Bertram’s Weaver, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Mountain Wagtail, African Pipit (lichenya), Striped Pipit, Southern Citril and Cape Bunting (vincenti)
Mount Tsetserra, Chimanimani Mountains and Mount Gorongosa for Roberts’s Warbler and Chirinda Apalis (chirindensis) as well as African Black Duck, Natal Spurfowl, Freckled Nightjar, Scarce Swift, Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon, Lemon Dove, Verreaux’s Eagle, Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk, Augur Buzzard, Cape Eagle-Owl, Speckled Mousebird (rhodesiae), Rock Kestrel, Taita Falcon, Cape Batis (erythrophthalma), Olive Bushshrike (interfluvius), Black-fronted Bushshrike, Bokmakierie, Grey Cuckooshrike, Green-headed Oriole (ESS speculifer), White-necked Raven, White-tailed Crested Flycatcher (swynnertoni), Stripe-cheeked Greenbul, Yellow-streaked Greenbul, Red-throated Rock Martin, Blue Swallow, African Red-rumped Swallow, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler (alacris), Cape Grassbird, Barratt’s Warbler, Singing Cisticola, Rock-loving Cisticola (nyika), Wailing Cisticola (mashona/ESS oreobates), Levaillant’s Cisticola, Wing-snapping Cisticola, Bar-throated Apalis (quarta/arnoldi), Gurney’s Sugarbird, Orange Ground Thrush, Olive Thrush (swynnertoni), Cape Robin-Chat (caffra), Swynnerton’s Robin, White-starred Robin, African Stonechat, Mocking Cliff Chat (odica), Familiar Chat (modesta), Olive Sunbird (sclateri), Bronze Sunbird, Malachite Sunbird, Yellow-mantled Widowbird, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Mountain Wagtail, Cape Longclaw, Striped Pipit, Streaky-headed Seedeater (mendosa), Cape Canary and Cape Bunting (smithersii)
Cabo Delgado (Quirimbas National Park) for Kretschmer’s Longbill (griseiceps), Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird and Zanzibar Red Bishop
Primeiras and Segundas Archipelago for breeding Sooty Tern and waders/shorebirds including Eurasian Oystercatcher, as well as Brown Noddy, Saunders’s Tern, White-tailed Tropicbird, Lesser Frigatebird, Dimorphic Egret and Sooty Falcon
Zambezi Coutadas for waterbirds including Wattled Crane, as well as African Pitta, White-chested Alethe, East Coast Akalat (ESS gunningi) and Lesser Seedcracker
Rio Savane for Blue Quail, Black-rumped Buttonquail, Great Snipe, Locust Finch and Short-tailed Pipit
Inhambane Coastline and Bazaruto Archipelago for waders/shorebirds including African Oystercatcher, Greater Sand Plover, Tibetan Sand Plover, Terek Sandpiper and Crab-plover, as well as Forbes-Watson’s Swift, Southern Boubou (savensis), Mascarene Martin, Brown (Maputaland) Scrub Robin (tongensis) and Lemon-breasted Canary
Panda Woodlands for Neergaard’s Sunbird, Olive-headed Weaver and other miombo woodland species including Southern Hyliota
Panda-Inharrime Wetlands for Eurasian Bittern (capensis)
Bela Vista Wetlands and Salinas Zacharia for waterbirds including Cape Shoveler and Cape Teal, Greater Flamingo and Lesser Flamingo, Pied Avocet, Chestnut-banded Plover and Pink-backed Pelican, as well as Pale-crowned Cisticola, Orange-breasted Waxbill and Cape Wagtail
Maputo Bay for more waders/shorebirds including Eurasian (Steppe) Whimbrel (alboaxillaris)
Offshore for seabirds including Lesser Noddy, Sabine’s Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Caspian Tern, Greater Crested Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Damara Tern, Bridled Tern, Sooty Tern, Roseate Tern, Common Tern, Brown Skua, Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger, Wilson’s Storm Petrel, Black-bellied Storm Petrel, Snowy Albatross, Sooty Albatross, Black-browed Albatross, Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, Southern Giant Petrel, Great-winged Petrel, Soft-plumaged Petrel, Grey Petrel, White-chinned Petrel, Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Bulwer’s Petrel, Great Frigatebird, Cape Gannet, Red-footed Booby and Cape Cormorant
Far south and south-west for Swainson’s Spurfowl, Rufous-cheeked Nightjar, Kori Bustard, Red-crested Korhaan, Double-banded Sandgrouse, Crowned Lapwing, Cape Vulture, Jackal Buzzard, Speckled Mousebird (integralis/minor), Southern Red-fronted Tinkerbird, Acacia Pied Barbet, Cape Batis (hollidayi), Olive Bushshrike (vitorum/olivaceus), Southern Tchagra, Southern Boubou (tongensis), Magpie Shrike, Southern White-crowned Shrike, Southern Fiscal, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Sabota Lark (suffusca), Fawn-colored Lark (vincenti), Red-capped Lark (alluvia), Yellow-streaked Greenbul (flavostriatus), Large Rock Martin (pretoriae), Rock-loving Cisticola (minor), Cloud Cisticola, Bar-throated Apalis (lebomboensis), Burnt-necked Eremomela, Cape White-eye, Cape Starling, Burchell’s Starling, Groundscraper Thrush, Fiscal Flycatcher, White-starred Robin (transvaalensis), Sentinel Rock Thrush, Mocking Cliff Chat (autochthones), Familiar Chat (hellmayri), Marico Sunbird, Cape Sparrow, Southern Brown-throated Weaver (marleyi), Swee Waxbill, Violet-eared Waxbill, Dusky Indigobird (funerea), Shaft-tailed Whydah, Nicholson’s Pipit, Buffy Pipit (vaalensis), Plain-backed Pipit (leucophrys), Bushveld Pipit (traylori) and Streaky-headed Seedeater (endemion)

TIMING (Aug–Sep, Dec)
Best at the end of the dry season, when most birds breed
African Pitta displays mostly in Dec
Avoid the main rains (Jan–Apr)

RESOURCES (see also South Africa)
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)
Roberts Bird Guide 2 covers most species

Field guides
Birds of Greater Southern Africa by Keith Barnes, Terry Stevenson & John Fanshawe (2024)
Birds of Southern Africa by Ber van Perlo (2009)
Sasol Birds of Southern Africa by Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey, Warwick Tarboton, Niall Perrins, Dominic Rollinson & Peter Ryan (2020) is better for birds occurring south of the Zambezi River
Birds of Africa South of the Sahara by Ian Sinclair & Peter Ryan (2010)

Sounds
Southern African Bird Sounds by Guy Gibbon covers most species

Site guides
Southern African Birdfinder by Callan Cohen, Claire Spottiswoode & Jonathan Rossouw (2006)
Pelagic Birding Trips in the Southern Mozambique Channel by Peter G Ryan, John Graham & Andrew C Sutherland (2006)
A Productive Birding Transect from Highland Zimbabwe to Coastal Mozambique by Chris Lotz (2012)

Atlases
Southern African Bird Atlas Project 2 (SABAP2), a member of the African Bird Atlas Project
The Atlas of the Birds of Central Mozambique by Vincent Parker (2005)
The Atlas of the Birds of Sul do Save, Southern Mozambique by Vincent Parker (1999)

Further reading
Roberts – Birds of Southern Africa edited by P A R Hockey, W R J Dean & P G Ryan (2005) for species occurring south of the Zambezi River
Mozambique by Vincent Parker in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Avifauna chapter by Sam Jones & Gabriel Jaimie in The Njesi Plateau Expedition: a Biological Assessment of Mt Chitagal, Mt Sanga and the Njesi Plateau in Niassa Province, Mozambique by Sam Jones, Justin Clause, Lore Geeraert, Gabriel Jamie, Emidio Sumbane, Tim van Berkel & Merlijn Jocque (2017)
Birds of the Niassa Reserve, Mozambique by Vincent Parker (2005)
Birds of the Maputo Special Reserve, Mozambique by Vincent Parker & Fred de Boer (2000)
Birds of Inhaca Island, Mozambique by Fred de Boer & Carlos Bento (1999)
The Birds of Southern Mozambique by Phillip A Clancey (1996)
Articles in Scopus, Bull. ABC, etc.

Blogs
Maputo Special Reserve: Southern Mozambique’s Unknown Birding Gem by Dominic Rollinson (2021)

ORGANISATIONS

There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Mozambique

Bird or conservation organisations active in Mozambique include –
Associação Ambiente, Conservação e Educação Moçambique (AACEM)/Birds Mozambique
Association for the Conservation of Birds and Bats of Mozambique
Fórum Natureza em Perigo (FNP)/Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT)
Justiça Ambiental (JA!)
Associação Amigos da Floresta de Moçambique/Trees4Moz
Sociedade para a Gestão e Desenvolvimento da Reserva do Niassa (SGDRN)
Legado: Namuli
Cabo Delgado Biodiversity and Tourism Project (Zoological Society of London)
Biofund – Fundação para a Conservação da Biodiversidade
Eden Reforestation Projects
Biodiversity Inventory for Conservation (BINCO)
African Safari Foundation (ASF)
Karingani
Pembi Wildlife Conservancy
Blue Ventures
Marine Megafauna Foundation
African Parks: Bazaruto Archipelago National Park
Peace Parks Foundation: Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area and Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation and Resource Area
FFS-IGF: Parque Nacional do Gilé
Carr Foundation: Parque Nacional da Gorongosa/Gorongosa National Park 
Fauna & Flora International (FFI): Niassa Special Reserve
WCS Mozambique: Niassa Special Reserve
WWF Mozambique