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SOUTH AFRICA | KWAZULU-NATAL | SOUTH COAST
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SOUTH AFRICA | KWAZULU-NATAL | SOUTH COAST

BIRDING
Telephone: 039 316 8221
Cell: 083 446 2348
Fax: 086 647 2980
Email: info@southernexplorer.co.za

The KwaZulu-Natal South Coast is an exciting and exceptionally rewarding birding venue. Sandy beaches, interspersed with rocky shorelines, numerous river estuaries, swamp-forests, reed-beds and lush subtropical forest punctuated with patches of open grassland provide habitats for over four hundred fascinating avian species.

The warm summer climate ensures that there is an abundance of bird-life to satisfy the appetites of the most discerning members of the birding fraternity. Paleartic and intra-African migrants depart in autumn leaving a void that is soon filled by altitudinal migrants from the west. Species such as Cape Robin-chat, Gurney’s Sugarbird and Malachite Sunbird move from the cold inhospitable environs of the interior, to the mild climate of the South Coast where they live a life of ease, reveling in an abundance of sustenance in the form of insects, wild fruits and nectar.

Red-billed Firefinch (photo by Keith Roach)
A beautiful little bird inhabits grass patches close to forest edges. The closely related Blue-billed Firefinch is also common on the South Coast, but the Red-billed Firefinch seems to be replacing it in many places along the South Coast.
Egyptian Geese
Egyptian Geese (Photo by Doug Butcher)
Common on dams and open stretches of water on larger rivers.
Magpie

Magpie Mannikin (photo by Keith Roach)
The "flagship" bird of the lower South Coast, in South Africa these birds are rare, but a healthy population is established between Umtentweni and Umzumbe on the South Coast. This is the best locality to see the species in the country.
Kingfisher

Malachite Kingfisher (photo by Keith Roach)
A beautiful bird that feeds on small freshwater fish. Frequents dams and streams, occasionally hunts in rock pools in marine environments.
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle (photo by Jeanette Osborne)
A magnificent raptor commonly found near rivers, dams and estuaries on the South Coast.

Tourism South Coast

South Coast Tourism

Tourism South Coast and the Southern Explorer are actively and continuously working to improve the quality of Tourism Product and the Tourist Experience on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. Please contact either of these associations with any feedback - positive or negative - we are working for you! Please help us by sharing your experiences.

The Southern Explorer: info@southernexplorer.co.za

Toursim South Coast: info@tourismsouthcoast.co.za
BLue Flag Beaches

THERE ARE 4 ACCREDITED AND 4 PILOT BLUE FLAG BEACHES ON THE SOUTH COAST.

THE BLUE FLAG IS AN EXCLUSIVE ECO-LABEL WITH STRICT CRITERIA DEALING WITH WATER QUALITY, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND INFORMATION, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY.

Webmaster
Serena Sampson

 © SOUTHERN EXPLORER ASSOCIATION 2009
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