With over 500 species recorded, the Kruger National Park deserves its reputation as one of South Africa’s finest bird-watching destinations through and through. We’ve already shown you the cute little Spurfowl chicks that strutted all over the Park during our visits in May and June this year, but there was so much more feathered variety to point our lenses at that it surely deserves a dedicated post!
This first gallery of images were taken in the south of the Park on my solo trip to Pretoriuskop and Skukuza – all in all I ticked 110 species in the 4 days I spent south of the Sabie River.
Ashy Flycatcher
Blacksmith Lapwings
Black-winged Stilt
Goliath Heron with its catch
Grey Heron
Laughing Dove
Purple-crested Turaco
Fulvous Whistling Duck “ducks” as two Water Thick-knees come in to land at Transport Dam
African Firefinch
African Hawk Eagle
Immature Bateleur
Bearded Woodpecker
Black-collared Barbet
Black Crake
Black-crowned Tchagra
Black Flycatcher
Blue Waxbill
Brown-headed Parrot
Brown Snake Eagle
Cape Glossy Starling
Cape Turtle Dove
Chinspot Batis
Common Fiscal
Crested Francolin
African Darter
Egyptian Geese flying low over Lake Panic
African Fish Eagle
Fork-tailed Drongo
Golden-breasted Bunting
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Grey Go-away Bird
Grey-headed Sparrow
Groundscraper Thrush
Helmeted Guineafowl
Helmeted Guineafowl
African Hoopoe
Kurrichane Buttonquail
Kurrichane Thrush
Lappet-faced Vulture
Lilac-breasted Roller
Little Bee-eater
Magpie Shrike
Neddicky
African Openbill
African Pied Wagtail
Purple Roller
Red-billed Oxpecker
Red-billed Queleas
Green, or Red-billed, Wood Hoopoe
Saddle-billed Stork with nestlings
African Spoonbill (with a Sacred Ibis just behind)
Tawny Eagle
Three-banded Plover
Wattled Starlings
White-backed Vultures
White-backed Vultures
White-backed Vultures
White-crowned Lapwing
Wire-tailed Swallow
Yellow-billed Hornbill
Yellow-billed Stork
Yellow-breasted Apalis
Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow
Two weeks later, this time with Marilize and Joubert alongside, we headed to the north of the Kruger Park, basing ourselves at our favourite Shingwedzi for 9 nights, during which time we recorded 99 species of birds.
Green-winged Pytilia (male)
Egyptian Goose in flight (Joubert’s photo)
Blacksmith Lapwings
Saddle-billed Stork
Pied Kingfisher
Hamerkop
Grey Heron
Green-backed Heron
Goliath Heron
Close-up Yellow-billed Hornbill (Photo by Joubert)
Water Thick-knees (Photo by Joubert)
Saddle-billed Stork (Photo by Joubert)
Little Sparrowhawk (Photo by Joubert)
Greater Blue-eared Starling (Photo by Joubert)
Fork-tailed Drongo (Photo by Joubert)
Fish Eagle taking off (Photo by Joubert)
African Grey Hornbill
Red-billed Hornbill
Yellow-billed Hornbill
African Hawk Eagle
Immature Bateleur
Bearded Woodpecker
Bennett’s Woodpecker (male)
Black-backed Puffback
Brown-crowned Tchagra
Black-headed Oriole
Southern Black Tit
Blue Waxbill
Bronze-winged Courser
Chinspot Batis
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Crested Barbet
Double-banded Sandgrouse
Emerald-spotted Wood Dove
African Fish Eagle in flight with nesting material
Fork-tailed Drongo
Golden-tailed Woodpecker
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Southern Grey-headed Sparrow
Grey Tit Flycatcher
Jameson’s Firefinch
Kori Bustards
Lanner Falcon
Laughing Doves
Little Bee-eater
Long-billed Crombec
Martial Eagle
African Mourning Dove
Namaqua Dove
Namaqua Dove
Ostriches
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pied Crow
Red-billed Oxpecker
Green, or Red-billed, Wood-hoopoe
Sabota Lark
Saddle-billed Stork
Immature Spectacled Weaver
African Spoonbills
Tawny Eagle with hare prey
Tawny Eagle
Verreaux’s Eagle Owl
White-fronted Bee-eater
White-headed Vulture
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
DeWetsWild 
You are blessed! The Kruger most likely has almost double the species that Ireland has!! Keep counting… keep showing us! 😉
Ek sal jou goed glo!
😮That’s a lot of birds……
Kruger’s definitely the place to be if you love bird-watching!
I will definitely have to plan a trip there some time!
Incredibly fabulous! I can’t help observing that it makes one wonder why some folks are so hung up on only seeing the so-called Big Five! Thanks for treasuring such a diversity and sharing here.
Thanks again, Carol!
I live in the hope that that desire for finding one of the “hairy and scary” creatures will open visitors’ eyes to the other treasures too, so that in time they’ll appreciate the whole spectrum a little more with every return visit.
It is likely that those who return do become more aware with each visit. I know that we are learning all the time.
As are we! I think that’s why it is so addictive!
Pingback: What makes the Kruger “THE KRUGER”? | de Wets Wild
That is a fantastic selection!
Glad to know you liked it so, thanks Brian!
What an avian feast!
That’s a great description for bird-watching in Kruger, thank you Anne!
You all are incredible birders and photographers, de Wets. This is an impressive and fascinating collection. Well done!
You are so kind and generous with your comments – thank you very much, Jane!
You have lot of fantastic animals in south Africa!
Thank you, Christer. Yes indeed, South Africa has a rich diversity of landscapes, habitats and species. We are blessed to call it home.
There are just too many here to like, especially if I tried listing them all!
Ah thanks, Joanne. We don’t like picking favourites either, as you can probably tell! 😀
Loved this collection! It is fun to see the Herons that you have in your neck of the woods…similar, yet different, than the ones I get to see. 🙂
Glad to know that you enjoyed birding in Kruger with us, Kathy – thank you!
Pragtig!
Baie dankie, Tina!
Ongelooflike hoeveelheid voëls en die mooiste foto’s,Dries!
Baie dankie, Dina!
Dis ongelooflik mooi Dries, die wonderlikste is dat elkeen so uniek is.
Baie dankie, Aletta. Die Krugerwildtuin is ongetwyfeld een van ons top voelkyk-bestemmings.
Fantasties
What a bird paradise. Such diversity. Fantastic photos, Dries. How you managed to pick just one photo to show off the collection is beyond me. 🙂
The grey go-away bird – the name had me smiling. I also particularly loved the saddle-billed stork and the martial eagle.
Thank you so much, Tracy! Indeed, with over 500 kinds of birds Kruger really is a bird-watchers paradise and with such abundance it is easy to get a few decent photographs too.
The go-away bird definitely deserves its name, loudly and raucously warning every one in the vicinity when it sees danger approaching. You can read more about it here: https://dewetswild.com/tag/grey-go-away-bird/
Thanks for the extra info, Dries.
Three letters describes these photos, WOW! What a wonderful collection of so many different beautiful bird species! Absolutely wonderfully photographed!
You are so kind, thank you John! When you’re in a place like the Kruger Park that is so rich in birdlife it really makes the job of photographing them so easy!
stunning bird photos
Many thanks, Gavin!
Amazing! How many have you photographed?
Thanks Robert! We try really hard to get a picture of every kind of bird we see, but they don’t always want to oblige… 😉
Ha!
The blue waxbill is so pretty. The yellow-billed hornbill is quite impressive. Such an amazing gallery.
Thanks a lot, Lois! There’s such a mix of forms and colours that hopefully everyone will find a birdie or two here that stand out for them.
It has already been said, but what a wonderful gallery of our avian friends! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thank you very, very much, Takami, and a wonderful weekend to you!
What a wonderful gallery! Thank you, D. 🙂
I knew you’d find this post worth your while – thanks, H.J.!
Thank you, D. I appreciate it. 🙂
What a stunning collection! We have lots of herons in Louisiana in the US, so it’s incredible to also see many similar birds from Africa!
Most bird families have conquered the whole world, and for us too it is most interesting to see familiar looking family members pop up in expected places!
Wow, wow, wow, there are just WAY too many photos here!! 🙂 I especially like the shot of the heron with its catch and the eagle. But they’re all so interesting.
janet
Thanks, Janet! Being confronted with such a smorgasbord of beautiful feathered friends it was impossible to leave any out!