Bird Watching

Behind the Everglades Hotel at the foothill of the Inhlosane mountain, walkers, climbers and bird watchers can visit our indigenous forest. The forest has a great many species from Blue Swallows to the Black Sparrowhawk. Walking through the forest you will come across Yellow wood (Podocarpus latifolius) White Ironwood (Verpis undulate) Red Stinkwood (Prunus Africana) and King Protea plants (Protea cynaroides).

Well over 650 species have been recorded in the small province of KwaZulu-Natal, a product of its habitat diversity and its coastal position on the beautiful eastern seaboard of South Africa. From mangrove-fringed estuaries to the peaks of the Drakensberg Mountains, from the cool mistbelt forests to the bird-rich savanna of Zululand, KZN offers some of the best birding on the African continent. Of particular interest to the international birder are the more than 50 species endemic to the Southern African Subregion, a handful of which are only found here and in adjacent Mozambique.

Impendle Nature Reserve near Boston
The Impendle Nature Reserve is one of the few remaining breeding areas in KwaZulu-Natal of the rare blue swallow. Other birds which may be seen in the reserve are bald ibis, crowned and marshall eagle, wattled crane, ground hornbill, secretary bird, Stanleys bustard, Cape white-eye, sombre bulbul, bou bou strike, cape canary, olive bush shrike, collard sunbird, Cape batis, Cape robin, chorister robin and jackal buzzard.

The Midlands Birding Route is the most Northern component of the Southern KZN Birding Route. Starting in the Ukhahlamba Drakensberg World Heritage Site at the location of the world famous Giants Castle Vulture Hide, the route finds its way down from the sandstones cliffs, basalt precipices and buttresses, through the foothills of the Drakensberg and into the picturesque rolling hillsides of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Another fascinating attraction on the Midlands Birding Route is the Karkloof Crane Information Centre. The beauty of the centre's location is truly something to behold and birders have the opportunity to see all three Crane species in one outing. Other key Midlands birding attractions include some of the most reliable sites for Cape Parrots and Blue Swallows.

BIRDS OF DARGLE VALLEY (Roberts Birds of South Africa)

8	Dabchick	226	Moorhen	554	Southern Black Tit
55	White-Breasted Cormorant	228	Red-Knobbed Coot	568	Dark-capped Bulbul
58	Reed Cormorant	231	Denham's Bustard	580	Groundscraper Thrush
60	Darter	248	Kittlitz's Plover	581	Sentinel Rock Thrush
62	Grey Heron	249	3 Banded Sandplover	588	Buff-Streaked Chat
63	Black-Headed Heron	256	Senagal Lapwing	589	Familiar Chat
64	Goliath Heron	258	Blacksmith Lapwing	596	Stonchat
65	Purple Heron	260	Waffled Plover	601	Cape Robinchat
66	Great White Egret	264	Common Sandpiper	635	Cape Reed Warbler
71	Cattle Egret	266	Wood Sandpiper	638	African Sedge Warbler
81	Hamerkop	270	Greenshank	643	Willow Warbler
83	White Stork	286	Ethiopian Snipe	661	Grassbird
91	Sacred Ibis	338	Whiskered Tern	664	Zitting Cisticola
93	Glossy Ibis	349	Speckled Pigeon	677	Levaillant's Cisticola
94	Hadedah	350	Ramaron Pigeon	686	Drakensberg Prinia
95	African Spoonbill	352	Red-eyed Dove	713	Cape Wagtail
99	White Faced Duck	354	Cape Turtle Dove	716	African Pipit
101	Whitebacked Duck	355	Laughing Dove	727	Orange Throated Longclaw
102	Egyptian Goose	356	Namaqua Dove	732	Common Fiscal
104	Yellow-billed Duck	373	Red-chested Cuckoo	733	Red Backed Shrike
106	Cape Teal	378	Black Cuckoo	736	Southern Boubou
108	Red-billed Teal	386	Diederik Cuckoo	746	Bokmakerie
112	CapeShoveller	392	Barn Owl	758	Indian Mynah
113	Southern Pochard	401	Spotted Eagle Owl	759	Pied Starling
117	Spurwing Goose	411	European Swift	760	Wattled Starling
118	Secretary Bird	412	Black Swift	764	Glossy Starling
119	Lammergeyer	415	White-rumped Swift	769	Red-wing Starling
122	Cape Griffon	416	Horus Swift	775	Malachite Sunbird
126	Yellowbilled Kite	417	Little Swift	792	Amethyst Sunbird
126	Black Kite	418	Alpine Swift	796	Cape White-eye
128	Black-shouldered Kite	424	Speckled Mousebird	801	House Sparrow
139	Long-crested Eagle	428	Pied Kingfisher	803	CapeSparrow
148	African Fish Eagle	429	Giant Kingfisher	804	Grey-headed Sparrow
149	Steppe Buzzard	431	Malachite Kingfisher	807	Thick Billed Weaver
150	Forest/Mountain Buzzard	443	Whitefronted Bee-eater	811	Village Weaver
152	Jackal Buzzard	446	European Roller	813	Cape Weaver
155	Rofous Chested Sparrowhawk	451	African Hoopoe	821	Redbilled Quelea
158	Black Sparrowhawk	488	Olive Woodpecker	824	Red Bishop
165	African Marsh Harrier	507	Red Capped Lark	826	Yellow Crowned Bishop
169	Gymnogene	518	European Swallow	828	Red Shouldered Widowbird
172	Lanner Falcon	520	White-throated Swallow	829	White-winged Widow
180	Amur Falcon	526	Greater Striped Swallow	831	Red Collared Widowbird
181	Rock Kestrel	530	House Martin	832	Long-tailed Widow
192	Red-Winged Spurfowl	533	Brown-throated Martin	847	Common Waxbill
198	Red-necked Spurfowl	534	Banded Martin	852	African Quailfinch
200	Common Quail	536	Black Saw-wing Swallow	854	Orange-breasted Waxbill
207	Waffled Crane	541	Fork-tailed Drongo	857	Bronze Mannikin
208	Blue Crane	545	Black-headed Oriole	860	Pin-tailed Whydah
209	Crowned Crane	547	Cape Crow	869	Yellow-eye Canary
210	African Rail	548	Pied Crow	872	Cape Canary
211	Corncrake			873	Forest Canary
213	Black Crake			884	Golden-breasted Bunting