Zambia

SUB-REGION
South-Central Africa

SIZE
752,620 km²

BIRDS AND BIRDING

SPECIES
Diversity
Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 780 recorded species

Endemics (E)
White-chested Tinkerbird (DD)
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)
Chestnut-headed Flufftail
Rufous-bellied Heron
Laura’s Woodland Warbler (eustacei)
Bamboo Warbler (kungwensis)
Dambo Cisticola | Cloud-scraping Cisticola (dambo)
Bar-winged Weaver
Red-throated Twinspot | Peters’s Twinspot
Grimwood’s Longclaw

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

Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Chestnut-breasted Francolin
Crawshay’s Francolin
Cranch’s Spurfowl
Rwenzori Nightjar
Black-faced Go-away-bird
Barrow’s Bustard
Ngami Owlet
White-faced Barbet (BT)
Northern Olive Woodpecker
Grey-headed Parrot (B2)
East African Pitta (BT)
Anchieta’s Tchagra
Eastern Saw-wing
African Reed Warbler
Zambian Yellow Warbler (BT)
Rufous-crowned Cisticola (awemba)
Angola Cisticola (angolensis)
Northern Olive-flanked Ground Robin | Rusty-flanked Robin-Chat (macclounii)
Stuhlmann’s Weaver (nyikae)
Red-backed Mannikin (woltersi)
Spectacled Quailfinch (ESS smithersi)
Black-chinned Quailfinch (fuscata)
Benguela Seedeater (B2)

National bird
African Fish Eagle | Cembe

MAIN HABITATS
Miombo woodland, dambo grasslands, mopane woodland, moist savanna, gallery forest

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
Nkanga River Conservation Area for Chaplin’s Barbet
Mulobezi and Simungoma for Black-cheeked Lovebird
Siavonga area for African Pitta
Bangweulu wetlands for Shoebill
Mutinondo Wilderness and Kafue National Park for miombo woodland species
Nyika Plateau and Mafinga Mountains for montane species, including Scarce Swift, African Olive Pigeon, Dusky Turtle Dove, Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk, Bar-tailed Trogon, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Moustached Tinkerbird, Malawi Batis, Fülleborn’s Boubou, White-tailed Crested Flycatcher, Black-browed Greenbul, Placid Greenbul, Yellow-streaked Greenbul, Sharpe’s Greenbul, White-headed Saw-wing, Blue Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler, Mountain Yellow Warbler, Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, Black-lored Cisticola, Churring Cisticola, Wailing Cisticola, Wing-snapping Cisticola, Bar-throated Apalis, Chapin’s Apalis, African Hill Babbler, Brown Parisoma, Slender-billed Starling, Waller’s Starling, Orange Ground Thrush, Abyssinian Thrush, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, White-chested Alethe, Cape Robin-Chat, White-starred Robin, Sharpe’s Akalat, Bronzy Sunbird, Malachite Sunbird, Scarlet-tufted Sunbird, Whyte’s Double-collared Sunbird, Forest Double-collared Sunbird, Bertram’s Weaver, Montane Widowbird, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Western Citril, Southern Citril, Yellow-browed Seedeater and Yellow-crowned Canary
Mwinilunga for lowland forest species, including Western Crested Guineafowl, Blue Malkoha, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, Afep Pigeon, Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, White-spotted Flufftail, Forbes’s Plover, Spot-breasted Ibis, Vermiculated Fishing Owl, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, White-bellied Kingfisher, Shining-blue Kingfisher, Least Honeyguide, Brown-eared Woodpecker, Chestnut Wattle-eye, Gorgeous Bushshrike, African Shrike-flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Western Nicator, Red-tailed Bristlebill, Honeyguide Greenbul, Black-collared Bulbul, Whistling Cisticola, White-chinned Prinia, Buff-throated Apalis, Salvadori’s Eremomela, Spotted Thrush-Babbler, Fraser’s Rufous Thrush, Splendid Starling, Cassin’s Flycatcher, Sooty Flycatcher, Grey-winged Robin-Chat, Grey-chinned Sunbird, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Green-throated Sunbird, Orange-tufted Sunbird, Bates’s Sunbird, Compact Weaver and Black-bellied Seedcracker

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 Africa South of the Sahara by Ian Sinclair & Peter Ryan (2010)
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)

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)

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
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
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