Birdlife

"For a landlocked country dominated by a single biome, Zambia has a comparatively rich birdlife. To date, 750 species have been recorded." - Peter Leonard, author of Important Bird Areas in Zambia.

To a large extent Zambia’s avifauna is that of the Central African Plateau. The vegetation is principally miombo woodland, bisected by grassy dambos along drainage lines. Along watercourses there may be riparian forest or in wetter areas wet evergreen forest. Zambia also has low-lying valleys and a very small part of montane altitudes. All these habitats have a distinctive set of birds.

Among interesting species are Zambia’s only endemic, Chaplin’s Barbet, the mopane-dwelling Black-cheeked Lovebird, the very sought after Shoebill Stork, the elusive African Finfoot, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Wattled Crane, Bohm’s Bee-eater, Bar-winged Weaver, Rosy-throated Longclaw, Souza’s Shrike and a plethora of other species more easily seen here than anywhere else.