Rare Birds in Namibia
Our list for Namibia has 20 rare birds recorded regularly there: 3 summer visitors, 9 passage migrants and 8 scarce visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Namibia in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 20, most common first
Garden WarblerSylvia borinPassage migrantRare14–15 cmRegularly Dec–Jan
Golden OrioleOriolus oriolusSummer visitorRare22–24 cmRegularly Oct–Feb
African PenguinSpheniscus demersusPassage migrantRare60–70 cmRegularly Mar–Dec
MallardAnas platyrhynchosSummer visitorRare50–65 cmRegularly Oct–Jul
Yellow WagtailMotacilla flavaSummer visitorRare15–17 cmRegularly Nov–Feb
Red KnotCalidris canutusPassage migrantRare23–26 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
CurlewNumenius arquataPassage migrantRare50–60 cmRegularly Oct–Nov
Sand MartinRiparia ripariaPassage migrantRare12–14 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Pomarine JaegerStercorarius pomarinusPassage migrantRare46–51 cmRegularly Mar–Apr
Red-necked PhalaropePhalaropus lobatusPassage migrantRare18–19 cmRegularly Mar
Little TernSternula albifronsPassage migrantRare21–25 cmRegularly Mar
Montagu's HarrierCircus pygargusScarceRare43–47 cmRegularly Feb
NightjarCaprimulgus europaeusPassage migrantRare24–28 cmRegularly Dec
CuckooCuculus canorusScarceRare32–34 cm
Long-tailed JaegerStercorarius longicaudusScarceRare48–58 cm
Arctic TernSterna paradisaeaScarceRare33–39 cm
Grey PhalaropePhalaropus fulicariusScarceRare20–22 cm
Marsh WarblerAcrocephalus palustrisScarceRare13–14 cm
Common StarlingSturnus vulgarisScarceRare21–23 cm
Great Crested GrebePodiceps cristatusScarceRare46–51 cm
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Sand Martin 12–14 cm
- Marsh Warbler 13–14 cm
- Garden Warbler 14–15 cm
- Yellow Wagtail 15–17 cm
- Red-necked Phalarope 18–19 cm
- Grey Phalarope 20–22 cm
- Common Starling 21–23 cm
- Golden Oriole 22–24 cm
- Little Tern 21–25 cm
- Red Knot 23–26 cm
- Nightjar 24–28 cm
- Cuckoo 32–34 cm
- Arctic Tern 33–39 cm
- Montagu's Harrier 43–47 cm
- Pomarine Jaeger 46–51 cm
- Great Crested Grebe 46–51 cm
- Long-tailed Jaeger 48–58 cm
- Curlew 50–60 cm
- Mallard 50–65 cm
- African Penguin 60–70 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made