South Africa Endemic Birding

End point to a continent, South Africa is a meeting ground of east and west, both at sea and on land. This rich assemblage of faunal elements has been supplemented by the evolution of many distinctive forms in the islands of subtropical habitat at the tip of this tropical continent–rockjumpers, sugarbirds, and a host of distinctive bustards, larks, rock-thrushes, chats, scrub-robins, and sunbirds. In fact, South Africa is home to more endemic birds than any other country on the continent. Add to these many more typical and widespread African birds such as raptors, hornbills, barbets, mousebirds, bushshrikes, weavers, and bishops, and we have a great birding trip.

Our South Africa itinerary has been specially designed to give us an opportunity to see as many of the South African endemics as possible in three weeks while surveying a diversity of scenery and habitat. Many of the endemics we’ll be looking for are extremely localized, and we’ll be accompanied by an expert local birder throughout the tour. Excellent field guides and other reference material make preparation and fieldwork a pleasure. Beyond the birds and landscapes, of course, an additional draw of the tour is the unique and spectacular flora for which South Africa is famous.