Common Birds in South Africa
Our list for South Africa has 18 common birds recorded regularly there: 15 residents and 3 summer visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in South Africa in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 18, most common first
Egyptian GooseAlopochen aegyptiacaResidentCommon63–73 cmRecorded all year
Fork-tailed DrongoDicrurus adsimilisResidentCommon23–26 cmRecorded all year
Barn SwallowHirundo rusticaSummer visitorCommon17–19 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
Cape SparrowPasser melanurusResidentCommon14–16 cmRecorded all year
Pied CrowCorvus albusResidentCommon46–52 cmRecorded all year
Helmeted GuineafowlNumida meleagrisResidentCommon53–63 cmRecorded all year
Cape StarlingLamprotornis nitensResidentCommon25–28 cmRecorded all year
Southern Masked WeaverPloceus velatusResidentCommon13–15 cmRecorded all year
House SparrowPasser domesticusResidentCommon14–17 cmRecorded all year
Cattle EgretArdea ibisResidentCommon46–56 cmRecorded all year
Grey HeronArdea cinereaResidentCommon90–98 cmRecorded all year
Rock DoveColumba liviaResidentCommon29–37 cmRecorded all year
Common StarlingSturnus vulgarisResidentCommon21–23 cmRecorded all year
Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carboResidentCommon80–100 cmRecorded all year
Lesser Striped SwallowCecropis abyssinicaSummer visitorCommon15–19 cmRegularly Jul–May
MoorhenGallinula chloropusResidentCommon30–38 cmRecorded all year
HoopoeUpupa epopsResidentCommon25–32 cmRecorded all year
BuzzardButeo buteoSummer visitorCommon51–57 cmRegularly Aug–Apr
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Southern Masked Weaver 13–15 cm
- Cape Sparrow 14–16 cm
- House Sparrow 14–17 cm
- Lesser Striped Swallow 15–19 cm
- Barn Swallow 17–19 cm
- Common Starling 21–23 cm
- Fork-tailed Drongo 23–26 cm
- Cape Starling 25–28 cm
- Hoopoe 25–32 cm
- Rock Dove 29–37 cm
- Moorhen 30–38 cm
- Pied Crow 46–52 cm
- Cattle Egret 46–56 cm
- Buzzard 51–57 cm
- Helmeted Guineafowl 53–63 cm
- Egyptian Goose 63–73 cm
- Great Cormorant 80–100 cm
- Grey Heron 90–98 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