Birding in the Northern Cape: an Overview

Did you know? The world’s largest flock of lesser flamingoes can be found at Kamfers Dam, outside Kimberley, in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province. The flock comprises up to 20,000 individual birds, which share the water source with almost 200 other species.

These facts alone mark the Northern Cape as one of the country’s top birding desintations – but wait, there’s more! At least seven other major birding areas in the Province spoil twitchers for choice, home to everything from beautiful, endemic lark species (in an area of the Karoo known as Bushmansland) to the farther-roaming raptors of the Kgalagadi Desert.

• The best place to visit for a birding overview of the Province – and for birding in SA generally – is SABirding.co.za.
• And intrepid twitchers can look to John McAllister for birding ideas in the Northern Cape – particularly if they recreate his epic 1999 birding journey from Kimberley to the Atlantic Ocean.