Zambia

SUB-REGION
Southern Africa

SIZE
752,618 km²

BIRDS AND BIRDING

SPECIES
Diversity
Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 790 recorded species

Endemics (E)
Chaplin’s Barbet | Zambian Barbet (VU)
Black-cheeked Lovebird (VU)

Near-endemics (NE)
Shelley’s Sunbird

Birds best found in Zambia but occurring more widely (BT), including Zambezian endemics or near-endemics (Z)
Chestnut-headed Flufftail | Long-toed Flufftail
Rufous-bellied Heron
Rufous-bellied Tit (Z)
Laura’s Woodland Warbler (Z)
Bamboo Warbler
Dambo Cisticola | Cloud-scraping Cisticola (Z)
Bar-winged Weaver (Z)
Red-throated Twinspot | Peters’s Twinspot (Z)
Grimwood’s Longclaw (Z)

Birds occurring in only two territories of the ABC region but not NE or BT (1/2)
Katanga Masked Weaver (Z)
Tanzanian Masked Weaver | Tanganyika Masked Weaver (Z)

More Zambezian endemics or near-endemics occurring in Zambia
Coppery-tailed Coucal
Slaty Egret
Pale-billed Hornbill
Racket-tailed Roller
Böhm’s Bee-eater
Whyte’s Barbet
Dickinson’s Kestrel
Lilian’s Lovebird | Nyasa Lovebird
Souza’s Shrike
White-tailed Blue Flycatcher | Blue-and-white Crested Flycatcher
Miombo Tit | Miombo Grey Tit
Red-throated Cliff Swallow | Red-throated Swallow
Red-capped Crombec
Tinkling Cisticola
Chirping Cisticola
Long-tailed Cisticola | Tabora Cisticola
Stierling’s Wren-Warbler
Hartlaub’s Babbler
Meves’s Starling | Southern Long-tailed Starling
Babbling Starling | White-winged 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
Western Miombo Sunbird
Oustalet’s Sunbird
White-bellied Sunbird | White-breasted Sunbird
Olive-headed Weaver
Brown Firefinch
Zambezi Indigobird | Green Indigobird
Black-faced Canary

Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Chestnut-breasted Francolin (Z dewittei)
Crawshay’s Francolin (kikuyuensis/crawshayi)
Cranch’s Spurfowl (cranchii)
Usambara Nightjar (guttifer)
Black-faced Go-away-bird (leopoldi)
Barrow’s Bustard (mackenziei)
White-breasted Cormorant (lucidus)
Ngami Owlet (ngamiense)
African Hoopoe (africana)
White-chested Tinkerbird (E makawai)
White-faced Barbet (BT Z macclounii)
Northern Olive Woodpecker (ruwenzori)
Grey-headed Parrot (B2 suahelicus)
East African Pitta (BT longipennis)
Perrin’s Bushshrike (viridis)
Anchieta’s Tchagra (anchietae)
Clancey’s Drongo (apivorus)
Cinnamon-breasted Tit (pallidiventris)
Placid Greenbul (placidus)
Dark-capped Bulbul (layardi/tricolor)
Eastern Saw-wing (orientalis)
African Reed Warbler (cinnamomeus/hallae)
Zambian Yellow Warbler (BT bensoni)
Rufous-crowned Cisticola (awemba)
Angola Cisticola (angolensis)
Salvadori’s Eremomela (Z salvadorii )
Miombo Blue-eared Starling (Z elisabeth)
Northern Olive-flanked Ground Robin | Rusty-flanked Robin-Chat (macclounii)
Stuhlmann’s Weaver (nyikae)
Black-fronted Red Bishop (nigrifons)
Red-backed Mannikin (woltersi)
Spectacled Quailfinch | African Quailfinch (ESS smithersi)
Black-chinned Quailfinch (fuscata)
Benguela Seedeater (B2 benguellensis)
Vincent’s Bunting (vincenti)
Three-streaked Bunting (cognominata/orientalis)

National bird
African Fish Eagle | Cembe

MAIN HABITATS
Miombo woodland, dambo grasslands, mopane woodland, evergreen forest, montane forest and grassland, moist savanna

BIRD AREAS
Tanzania – Malawi mountains Endemic Bird Area
North-west Zambia Secondary Area (SA)
South-west Tanzanian swamps SA
Southern Zambia SA
42 Important Bird Areas

BIRDING SITES
Chisamba IBA (Huntley Farm) and Nkanga River Conservation Area (Bruce-Miller Game Farm) for Chaplin’s Barbet and many widespread species including Swainson’s Spurfowl, Fiery-necked Nightjar, Grey Go-away-bird, Senegal Coucal, Red-eyed Dove, Ring-necked Dove, Laughing Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Namaqua Dove, African Green Pigeon, Marabou Stork, Western Cattle Egret, White-backed Vulture, Black-winged Kite, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Lizard Buzzard, Red-faced Mousebird, African Grey Hornbill, Trumpeter Hornbill, Lilac-breasted Roller, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Little Bee-eater, Black-collared Barbet, Crested Barbet, Lesser Honeyguide, Grey-headed Bushshrike, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Black-crowned Tchagra, Tropical Boubou, African Paradise Flycatcher, Magpie Shrike, Southern Black Tit, Flappet Lark, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Terrestrial Brownbul, Lesser Striped Swallow, Long-billed Crombec, Rattling Cisticola (fortis), Tawny-flanked Prinia, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Burnt-necked Eremomela, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Southern Black Flycatcher, White-browed Robin-Chat, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, Southern Masked Weaver, Southern Red Bishop, Bronze Mannikin, Common Waxbill, Red-billed Firefinch, Village Indigobird, Cuckoo-finch and Yellow-fronted Canary, as well as waterbirds including White-faced Whistling Duck, Knob-billed Duck, African Black Duck, Red-billed Teal, Southern Pochard, African Rail, Lesser Moorhen, Black Crake, African Wattled Lapwing, African Jacana, Reed Cormorant and Grey Heron, also Cape Teal and Cape Vulture
Machile IBA and Kafue National Park (NP) for Black-cheeked Lovebird
Bangweulu Swamps (Isangano NP) for Katanga Masked Weaver and Long-tailed Widowbird, as well as Shoebill among other waterbirds, also Desert Cisticola (ESS perplexus)
Saise River for Tanzanian Masked Weaver
Lake Mweru, Mweru Wantipa NP and Nsumbu NP for Papyrus Yellow Warbler (bensoni) as well as Green Malkoha, Lesser Flamingo, Spur-winged Lapwing, Senegal Lapwing, Palm-nut Vulture, Angola Swallow, White-winged Swamp Warbler, Winding Cisticola (suahelicus), Swamp Flycatcher (infulata), Slender-billed Weaver, Black-headed Weaver, Green Twinspot, Orange-cheeked Waxbill and Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
Kafue Flats (Lochinvar NP and Blue Lagoon NP) for Wattled Crane, Slaty Egret and Rufous-bellied Heron among other waterbirds including Fulvous Whistling Duck, Spur-winged Goose, Yellow-billed Duck, Red-knobbed Coot, Greater Flamingo, Long-toed Lapwing, Blacksmith Lapwing, Kittlitz’s Plover, African Snipe, Collared Pratincole, Whiskered Tern, Grey-headed Gull, African Openbill, Great Cormorant (lucidus), Glossy Ibis, African Spoonbill, Little Bittern, Black Heron, Yellow-billed Egret, Purple Heron, Great White Pelican and Pink-backed Pelican, as well as Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, Secretarybird, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Desert Cisticola (eremicus) and Swamp Flycatcher (ESS grimwoodi)
Kafue NP, West Lunga NP, Lavushi Manda NP, Lukusuzi NP and Lusenga Plain NP for miombo woodland species
Mutinondo Wilderness, Kasanka NP, North Swaka Forest Reserve, Imanda Community Forest and Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage for miombo woodland species including Anchieta’s Barbet, Rufous-bellied Tit, Bar-winged Weaver and Reichard’s Seedeater, also Chestnut-breasted Flufftail, and evergreen forest taxa including Laura’s Woodland Warbler and Bocage’s Akalat, as well as Ross’s Turaco, Buff-spotted Flufftail, Black Sparrowhawk, Narina Trogon, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird (mfumbiri), Little Spotted Woodpecker (nyansae), Olive Woodpecker (ruwenzori), African Broadbill, Black-throated Wattle-eye, Black-fronted Bushshrike (manningi), Purple-throated Cuckooshrike (martini), Square-tailed Drongo, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Pale-throated Greenbul (flavigula), Little Greenbul (zombensis), Grey-olive Greenbul, Cabanis’s Greenbul (cabanisi), Evergreen Forest Warbler (ufipae), Bar-throated Apalis (whitei), Brown-headed Apalis, African Thrush (stormsi), Collared Sunbird (garguensis), Green-headed Sunbird (viridisplendens), Olive Sunbird (ragazzii), Dark-backed Weaver and Grey Waxbill
Mwinilunga (Jimbe Drainage, Hillwood Farm/Nchila Wildlife Reserve, Source of the Zambezi, Chitunta Plain and Kalwelwa Bushcamp) for Margaret’s Batis, Angola Lark, Black-and-rufous Swallow, Dambo Cisticola, Bannerman’s Sunbird, Bocage’s Weaver and Grimwood’s Longclaw, Bamboo Warbler, Locust Finch and Short-tailed Pipit, as well as [Hartlaub’s Duck,] Western Crested Guineafowl, Blue Malkoha, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, Afep Pigeon, African Olive Pigeon, Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Lemon Dove (samaliyae), White-spotted Flufftail, Forbes’s Plover, Spot-breasted Ibis, Vermiculated Fishing Owl, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, White-bellied Kingfisher, Shining-blue Kingfisher, Pallid Honeyguide (angolensis), Least Honeyguide, Red-throated Wryneck, Brown-eared Woodpecker, Chestnut Wattle-eye, Gorgeous Bushshrike (viridis), African Shrike-flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Western Nicator, Rufous-naped Lark (chapini), Slender-billed Greenbul, Black-collared Bulbul, Red-tailed Bristlebill, Honeyguide Greenbul, Little Greenbul (virens), Red-throated Cliff Swallow, Whistling Cisticola, Stout Cisticola (angolensis), Wing-snapping Cisticola (ayresii), White-chinned Prinia, Buff-throated Apalis (nigrescens), Spotted Thrush-Babbler, Splendid Starling, Fraser’s Rufous Thrush, Cassin’s Flycatcher, Sooty Flycatcher, Grey-winged Robin-Chat, Grey-chinned Sunbird, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Green-throated Sunbird, Olive-bellied Sunbird, Orange-tufted Sunbird, Bates’s Sunbird, Compact Weaver, Orange-cheeked Waxbill and Black-bellied Seedcracker
Siavonga for African Pitta (longipennis) and Livingstone’s Flycatcher, also Southern Crested Guineafowl, Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo, Eastern Nicator, Sombre Greenbul, Bearded Scrub Robin, Red-capped Robin-Chat and Collared Sunbird (zambesiana)
Lower Zambezi NP, South Luangwa and North Luangwa NPs and Luambe NP for mopane woodland species including Lilian’s Lovebird and Meves’s Starling, as well as Double-banded Sandgrouse, Three-banded Courser, Southern Ground Hornbill, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow (ESS luangwae/stygiceps), Red-billed Buffalo Weaver and White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Egyptian Goose, Water Thick-knee, White-crowned Lapwing, White-fronted Plover, African Skimmer, Yellow-billed Stork, African Darter, Little Heron, Great Egret, Goliath Heron, Hamerkop, Malachite Kingfisher and Pied Kingfisher among other waterbirds, raptors including Hooded Vulture, White-headed Vulture, Lappet-faced Vulture, Western Banded Snake Eagle, Bateleur, Martial Eagle and Tawny Eagle, also Helmeted Guineafowl (marungensis), Crested Francolin (zambesiae), Natal Spurfowl, Mottled Spinetail, Alpine Swift, Horus Swift, Purple-crested Turaco, Grey Crowned Crane, Spotted Thick-knee, Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Woodland Kingfisher, Giant Kingfisher, White-fronted Bee-eater, Southern Carmine Bee-eater, Brown-throated Martin, Wire-tailed Swallow, Cardinal Quelea, Red-billed Quelea, Blue Waxbill, Green-winged Pytilia, Long-tailed Paradise Whydah and African Pied Wagtail
Nyanje Hills for Boulder Chat as well as Hildebrandt’s Spurfowl, Freckled Nightjar, Black Stork, Verreaux’s Eagle, Augur Buzzard, Lanner Falcon, White-necked Raven, Red-throated Rock Martin, Red-winged Starling, Mocking Cliff Chat, Familiar Chat, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Striped Pipit and Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Choma for Speckled Pigeon
Batoka Gorge for African Black Swift (hollidayi)
Dambwa Lagoons (Livingstone) for waterbirds including Blue-billed Teal, Common Moorhen, Allen’s Gallinule, African Swamphen, Baillon’s Crake, Little Grebe, Black-winged Stilt, Three-banded Plover, Greater Painted-snipe, African Sacred Ibis, Hadada Ibis, Black-crowned Night Heron, Little Egret, Squacco Heron and Black-headed Heron
South-west (Sioma Ngwezi NP and Simungoma) for Red-billed Spurfowl, Rufous-cheeked Nightjar, [Kori Bustard,] Red-crested Korhaan, Burchell’s Sandgrouse, Mourning Collared Dove, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, Bradfield’s Hornbill, Acacia Pied Barbet, Swamp Boubou, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Fawn-colored Lark (makarikari), [Monotonous Lark,] African Red-eyed Bulbul, Rattling Cisticola (smithersi), Black-chested Prinia (nubilosa), Chestnut-vented Warbler, Cape Starling, Burchell’s Starling, Marico Flycatcher, Marico Sunbird (mariquensis), Southern Grey-headed Sparrow (diffusus), Scaly-feathered Weaver, Southern Brown-throated Weaver, Black-faced Waxbill, Violet-eared Waxbill and Shaft-tailed Whydah
Liuwa Plain NP for many of the same taxa occurring on the Kafue Flats as well as Denham’s Bustard, White-bellied Bustard (mackenziei), Striped Crake, Black-rumped Buttonquail, Pied Avocet, Caspian Plover, Temminck’s Courser, Black-winged Pratincole, Greater Kestrel, Grey-backed Sparrow-Lark (ESS harti), Fawn-colored Lark (trapnelli), Eastern Clapper Lark (ESS jappi), Pink-billed Lark (ESS makawai + harti), Greater Striped Swallow, South African Cliff Swallow, Rattling Cisticola (ESS bensoni) and Black-chested Prinia (bihe)
Minyanya Plain for White-throated Francolin (dewittei), Red-winged Francolin (kikuyuensis), Cape Crow, Plains Lark (kabalii), Angola Lark, Cloud Cisticola (anselli), Desert Cisticola (traylori), Yellow-bellied Eremomela (salvadorii ) and Long-tailed Widowbird
Nyika Plateau and Mafinga Mountains for montane species including Red-winged Francolin (crawshayi), Common Quail, Montane Nightjar (guttifer), Scarce Swift, African Olive Pigeon, Lemon Dove (larvata), Dusky Turtle Dove, Striped Flufftail, Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk, Bar-tailed Trogon, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Moustached Tinkerbird, Rock Kestrel, Malawi Batis, Black-fronted Bushshrike (nigrifons), Fülleborn’s Boubou, White-tailed Crested Flycatcher, Plateau Lark (nyikae), Black-browed Mountain Greenbul, Cabanis’s Greenbul (placidus), Yellow-streaked Greenbul, Sharpe’s Greenbul, White-headed Saw-wing, Blue Swallow, African Red-rumped Swallow (emini), Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler, Mountain Yellow Warbler, Evergreen Forest Warbler (usambarae), Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, Singing Cisticola, Black-lored Cisticola, Churring Cisticola, Wailing Cisticola, Wing-snapping Cisticola, Red-winged Prinia, Bar-throated Apalis (youngi), Chapin’s Apalis, Green-backed Camaroptera, African Hill Babbler, Brown Parisoma, Slender-billed Starling, Waller’s Starling, Orange Ground Thrush, Abyssinian Thrush, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, White-starred Robin, White-chested Alethe, Cape Robin-Chat, Olive-flanked Ground Robin (macclounii), Sharpe’s Akalat, Bronze Sunbird, Malachite Sunbird, Scarlet-tufted Sunbird, Whyte’s Double-collared Sunbird, Forest Double-collared Sunbird, Baglafecht Weaver (nyikae), Bertram’s Weaver, Montane Widowbird, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Western Citril, Southern Citril, Yellow-browed Seedeater and Yellow-crowned Canary
North-east for Mottled Swift, Bare-faced Go-away-bird (leopoldi), Spot-flanked Barbet, Marico Sunbird (suahelicus) and Crimson-rumped Waxbill

TIMING (Sep–Oct, Dec)
Best at the start of the rains when most birds breed (Sep–Dec)
African Pitta starts to display in Dec, and Chestnut-headed Flufftail is best found Dec–Jan
Where Black-cheeked Lovebird occurs is more accessible in the dry season (Jul–Nov)
May–Jul is least productive

RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)
Birds of Zambia

Field guides
Birds of Greater Southern Africa by Keith Barnes, Terry Stevenson & John Fanshawe (2024)
Birds of Southern Africa by Ber van Perlo (2009)
A Field Guide to Zambian Birds Not Found in Southern Africa by Dylan R Aspinwall & Carl Beel (1998) covers species not treated in Sasol Birds of Southern Africa by Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey, Warwick Tarboton, Niall Perrins, Dominic Rollinson & Peter Ryan (2020)
Pocket Guide Birds of Zambia by Rory McDougall & Derek Solomon (2021)
Common Birds of Zambia: a First Identification Guide by Zambian Ornithological Society (1993)
Birds of Africa South of the Sahara by Ian Sinclair & Peter Ryan (2010)

Sounds
Sounds of Zambian Wildlife by Bob Stjernstedt features recordings of over 570 bird species
African Bird Sounds Vol 2: West and Central Africa by Claude Chappuis also covers most species
Bird Songs of Zambia by Bob Stjernstedt contains songs and calls of 415 species

Site guides
Southern African Birdfinder by Callan Cohen, Claire Spottiswoode & Jonathan Rossouw (2006)

Checklists
Zambian IBA & NP Checklists compiled by Frank Willems & Pete Leonard for BirdWatch Zambia (2019)

Further reading
The Birds of Zambia: an Atlas and Handbook by Robert J Dowsett, Dylan R Aspinwall & Françoise Dowsett-Lemaire (2008)
A Contribution to the Ornithology of Zambia edited by Robert J Dowsett (2009)
The Zambia Barn Swallow Project 2007-2008 edited by Bennie van den Brink (2008)
Important Bird Areas in Zambia: Priority Sites for Conservation by Peter Leonard (2005)
Zambia by P M Leonard in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Zambia Bird Reports (1997-1999)
Articles in Bull. Zambian Orn. Soc. (1969-1984), Zambia Museums Journal, BWZ/ZOS Newsletter, Bull. ABC, etc.

Websites
Birding Zambia
Mosi-oa-Tunya – UNESCO World Heritage List

Facebook groups
Birding Zambia brings Zambia’s top birders and conservationists together, to help you enjoy Zambia’s astounding wilderness areas and its 782 bird species
BirdWatch Zambia Forum is for people interested in birds and birding in Zambia

ORGANISATIONS

BirdWatch Zambia (BWZ), formerly the Zambian Ornithological Society (ZOS), is the BirdLife Partner in Zambia

African Cuckoos are a group of evolutionary biologists studying brood parasites in the field in Choma, Zambia

The Zambia Barn Swallow Project was a collaboration between Stichting Hirundo and the BirdLife Partners in Zambia and the Netherlands

Other bird or conservation organisations active in Zambia include –
Wildlife and Environmental Conservation Society of Zambia (WECZ)
Zambia CBNRM (Community-Based Natural Resources Management) Forum
Kasanka Trust
North Swaka Trust (NST)
Animal Research Connections (ARC)
Conservation South Luangwa (CSL)
Conservation Lower Zambezi (CLZ)
African Parks: Bangweulu Wetlands and Liuwa Plain
Peace Parks Foundation: Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), Liuwa Plains-Mussuma TFCA, Lower Zambezi-Mana Pools TFCA and Malawi-Zambia TFCA
Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS)
WeForest
Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS)
WWF Zambia
WCS
The Nature Conservancy (TNC)

The Livingstone Museum’s Ornithology Section curates collections of bird specimens, eggs and nests