BIRDING - HARARE & VUMBA

Focus: miombo and montane birds

Taking in the varied scenery of Harare’s miombo woodlands and the eastern highlands Vumba montane forests.

Target birds

Miombo specialists including Whyte’s Barbet, Green-backed Honeybird, Wood Pipit, Striped Pipit, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Boulder Chat, Miombo Rock-thrush, Collared Flycatcher (in season), Stierling’s Wren-warbler, Southern Hyliota, Green-capped Eremomela, Red-faced Crombec, Miombo Tit, African Spotted Creeper, Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Miombo Double-collared Sunbird, Miombo Blue-eared Starling and Black-eared Seedeater.

Eastern highland specials and near-endemics in montane and miombo including African Olive-pigeon, Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon, Lemon Dove, Mottled Swift, Buff-spotted Flufftail, Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, White-eared Barbet, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Grey Cuckooshrike, Stripe-cheeked Greenbul, Yellow-streaked Greenbul, Orange Ground-thrush, White-starred Robin, Swynnerton’s Robin, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, White-tailed Crested Flycatcher, Chirinda Apalis, Roberts’s Warbler, Broad-tailed Warbler, Barratt’s Warbler, Cape Grassbird, Yellow-throated Woodland-warbler, Cinnamon-breasted Tit, Bronzy Sunbird, Malachite Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, Gurney’s Sugarbird, Black-fronted Bush-shrike, Olive Bush-shrike, Square-tailed Drongo, Black Widowfinch, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Green Twinspot, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Grey Waxbill and Cabanis’s Bunting.

Ease of birding

Many birds will be easy to see whilst some are elusive or seasonal. Miombo woodlands tend to be quiet in the afternoons so there is the opportunity to sample other habitats for other species. These areas require some walking in hilly terrain but present no difficulty for persons of average fitness.