Birdlife and Birding in Mozambique

Mozambique's outstanding birdlife was relatively unaffected by the civil war, though environmental degradation from industry's continual encroachment upon ecology remains a serious threat. Mozambique holidays are a top destination for southern African bird watchers.

Of southern Africa's 900 or so bird species, around 740 have been recorded in Mozambique. It is a country to spot some of southern Africa's rarest birds. The extremely - and increasingly - rare olive-headed weaver, which lives in the canopies of deciduous brachystegia trees near the town of Panda in the Inhambane Province, is a prized tick for bird-watchers.

The diverse habitats south of the Zambezi River - woodlands, savannah, wetlands and highland forests - offer particularly good birding. Look out for birds as diverse as crab plover, Eleanora's falcon, green-headed oriole, Gunning's akalat and gull-billed tern.

In addition, for those adventurous birders who want a challenge, northern Mozambique hosts many species that do not appear on southern African checklists.