MOZAMBIQUE – A BIRDERS DREAM
Mozambique was off limits for a long period due to unrest and war. From the late ’80’s it started to become more accessible. The country is quite poor, with a bulk of the population subsistence living, growing crops and keeping livestock. The fields that are used to grow crops unfortunately are cleared sections of forest and woodland, in particular miombo woodland. As the population has grown, so the demand for land has affected larger areas, putting several species under threat. Added to this, rampant logging, in particular by Chinese companies, has decimated previously pristine tracts of woodland. Government intervention has cut this back, but as they say, too little, too late. The birds however have battled through and survive in these remnant patches of woodland, a birding trip to Mozambique always has the unknown – I have never returned disappointed!
Birders from South Africa tend to keep a list for the Southern African region, which includes Mozambique south of the Zambezi River – this is where our trips are focussed on.
Several species are only found here and no-where else in the region, which is what makes it such an attractive destination. These include: Forbe-Watson’s Swift (rare), Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo, “Steppe” Whimbrel (alboaxillaris subspecies of Eurasian Whimbrel, a possible split), Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (rare), by far the bulk of the migratory Crab Plover population in the region, Saunders’s Tern (discovered in 2018), Malagasy Pond Heron (rare in SA, more regular here), Böhm’s Bee-eater (site discovered in 2014), Green Tinkerbird (rediscovered in 2013), Speckle-throated Woodpecker, Pale Batis (extends marginally into Zimbabwe), Black-and-white Shrike-Flycatcher, Chestnut-fronted Helmetshrike, Green-headed Oriole, Lowland Tiny Greenbul, Mascarene Martin (winter), Moustached Grass Warbler (also spills across into Zimbabwe), Basra Reed Warbler (with rare records in South Africa too), Red-winged Prinia, Black-headed Apalis, White-chested Alethe, East Coast Akalat & Lesser Seedcracker (another shared with Zimbabwe).
Our trips include the following:
Central Mozambique and Zimbabwe (Nov/Dec)
San Sebastian Saunders’s Tern special
Southern Mozambique