Zululand Bird Route Information Directory

Towns en route

Babanango

Blythedale Beach

Empangeni

Eshowe

Gingindlovu

Hluhluwe

Kosi Bay

Kwadukuza

Matubatuba

Melmoth

Mkuzi

Mtunzini

Pongola

Richards Bay

Sodwana Bay

St Lucia

Ulundi

Vryheid

Zinkwazi

Zululand Bird Route Information Directory

General Information

There are over 650 species of birds that have been recorded in KwaZulu-Natal and make their homes in the coastal region on the beautiful eastern seaboard of South Africa. From mangrove-fringed estuaries to the peaks of the Drakensberg Mountains, from the cool mist-belt forests to the bird-rich savannah of Zululand, KwaZulu Natal offers some of the best birding on the African continent.

Zululand Birding Route has a spectacular 605 bird species and a wonderful range of destinations where they occur. It is a treasure trove of specials such as Green Barbet, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Pink-Throated Twinspot, Neergard’s Sunbird and Palmnut Vulture. The Zululand Birding Route is a natural evolution in response to the rapidly-increasing demand for birding tourism in South Africa.[READMORE]

The Elephant Coast is famous throughout South Africa as a birding mecca with more than 500 species recorded in a variety of habitats. Birds that are found here include pink-throated twinspot, Neergard's Sunbird, Woodward's Batis and iconic species such as the Southern-Banded Snake Eagle, Pels Fishing Owl and African Broadbill can be seen.

The Zululand Birding Route is the first Birdlife South Africa avitourism project, it has been running for more than a decade focused on conserving our birds and their habitats by developing and promoting birding tourism (avitourism) in the Northern Kwazulu-Natal region; which is helping conserve birds in Zululand by giving them direct financial value and is able to carry out this role of socio-economic development and conservation work in Zululand through generous sponsorship from many entities.

The Zululand Birding Route is much more than convenient information and booking system. The ZBR is a conservation programmer, showing that birding can generate income for destination and local communities. In this way, birding tourism adds value to wild birds and habitats in which they occur. It provides tangible reason to conserve natural habitats and the birds that occur in them.

Birds to look out for:

White Pelican and Pink backed Pelican
Rufousbellied Heron
Saddlebilled Stork and Yellowbilled Stork
Lesser Flamingo and Greater Flamingo
Southern Banded Snake Eagle (see left)
Crested Guineafowl
Buffspotted Flufftail
Lesser Jacana
Caspian Tern
Livingstone's Turaco
Green Coucal
Mangrove Kingfisher
African Broadbill
Yellowspotted Nicator
Whitethroated Robin, Brown Robin (see above), and Bearded Robin
Rudd's Apalis
Woodward's Batis
Shorttailed Pipit
Pinkthroated Longclaw
Gorgeous Bush Shrike (see top)
Neergaard's Sunbird
Green Twinspot and Pinkthroated Twinspot
Grey Waxbill

Accommodation

Along this route, there are many towns that have an abundance of accommodation choices, from bed and breakfasts, guest houses to hotels. Please see the accommodation directory for more information.