KZN WILDLIFE - BIRDING
The birds of KwaZulu-Natal(KZN) are probably the best known in Africa. Many of the early birders worked here, the reason that more than a few African birds have natalensis as the second half of their scientific name. KZN has a long bird list, about 470 species being regularly recorded, and another 200 less regularly.

This diversity reflects the number of habitats in KZN.    4 Crested Francolin 5 Grey-winged Francolin 12 Natal Spurfowl 14 Swainson`s Spurfowl 19 Crested Giuneafowl 20 Helmeted Guineafowl 22 White-faced Duck 25 Egyption Goose 27 Spur-winged Goose 29 African Pygmy-goose 33 Yellow-billed Duck 67 Acacia Pied Barbet 69 Crested Barbet 73 Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill 79 Southern Ground-Hornbill 80 African Hoopoe 84 Narina Trogon 91 Malachite Kingfisher 92 African Pygmy-Kingfisher 98 Giant Kingfisher 99 Pied Kingfisher 131 Burchell`s Coucal 158 Purple-crested Turaco 160 Barn Owl 161 Grass Owl 162 African Scops-Owl 163 Southern White-faced Scops-Owl 164 Cape Eagle-Owl 167 Pel`s Fishing-Owl 168 African Wood-Owl 171 Marsh Owl 204 Black-bellied Bustard 205 Grey Crowned Crane 206 Blue Crane 207 Wattled Crane 208 African Finfoot 217 Black Crake 221 African Purple Swamphen 226 Red-knobbed Coot 241 Common Greenshank 247 Common Sandpiper 252 Little Stint 267 Greater Painted-snipe 268 African Jacana 271 Water Thick-knee 272 Spotted Thick-knee 282 Kittlitz`s Plover 304 Collared Pratincole 316 Grey-headed Gull 350 African Fish-Eagle 352 Bearded Vulture 356 White-backed Vulture 357 Cape Vulture 358 Lappet-faced Vulture 359 White-headed Vulture 371 Lizard Buzzard 385 Jackal Buzzard 389 Verreaux`s Eagle 390 African Hawk-Eagle 396 African Crowned Eagle 411 Lanner Falcon 424 African Darter 425 Reed Cormorant 427 White-breasted Cormorant 431 Black Heron 432 Little Egret 435 Great Egret 438 Grey Heron 440 Goliath Heron 446 Green-backed Heron 447 Black-crowned Night-Heron 450 Dwarf Bittern 452 Hamerkop 453 Greater Flamingo 454 Lesser Flamingo 455 Glossy Ibis 456 Hadeda Ibis 459 African Spoonbill 460 Great White Pelican 461 Pink-backed Pelican 462 Yellow-billed Stork 466 Woolly-necked Stork 468 Saddle-billed Stork 541 African Paradise-Flycatcher 545 Black-crowned Tchagra 552 Bokmakierie 570 Cape Crow 571 Pied Crow 614 Dark-capped Bulbul 619 Yellow-bellied Greenbul 741 Cape Rock-Thrush 752 Pale Flycatcher 775 White-browed Scrub-Robin 791 Familiar Chat 799 Cape Glossy Starling 856 Southern Red Bishop 863 Thick-billed Weaver 865 Orange-breasted Waxbill 866 African Quailfinch 868 Cut-throat Finch 874 Grey Waxbill 876 Common Waxbill 879 Blue Waxbill 882 Green-winged Pytilia 886 African Firefinch 891 Village Indigobird 934 Yellow-fronted Canary.

The coastal plain is influenced by the warm Mozambique current, with the result that a number of tropical birds push to their southernmost extremity there.
Some of these are species absent from the rest of South Africa.

Other tropical species spread south on a broader front, sometimes occupying the whole of KZN. None of these is a South African endemic, but a few are endemic to the coastal plain, just extending into Mozambique.

Many are breeding migrants, retreating to equatorial Africa in winter.
The KZN interior is structurally diverse - forests, woodlands, grasslands, wetlands - although these habitats are not unique to KZN.

Here the tropical birds mingle with species spreading from the western half of southern Africa. These latter are year-round residents, although some migrate short distances to lower altitude in winter.

Most of the widespread species come from the southern and western Cape.
KZN’s alpine species are a mixture of Karoo birds at their easternmost limit, and species confined to high altitude. Many of these are endemics.
A number of north-western KZN birds are more typically associated with the Kalahari or highveld.

Much of the diversity of KZN is accounted therefore by its unique position at the crossroads of two, and by some definitions four avifaunas.It also receives a substantial proportion of the Palaearctic migration that graces Africa each summer. One consequence of KZN’s crossroads position is that no species is endemic to the province.

The importance of KZN in conserving South Africa’s birds is reflected in the number of Red Data species present. Of the 62 species currently listed, 49 occur regularly in KZN, and KZN makes a major, or the only contribution towards the conservation of 26 of them.