Rare Birds in South Africa
Our list for South Africa has 63 rare birds recorded regularly there: 11 residents, 23 summer visitors, 1 winter visitor, 19 passage migrants and 9 scarce visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · Oct
Share of all bird records in South Africa in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 63, most common first
American Golden-PloverPluvialis dominicaPassage migrantRare24–28 cmRegularly Jan
Southern Royal AlbatrossDiomedea epomophoraPassage migrantRare115–123 cmRegularly Jul–Oct
Pacific Golden-PloverPluvialis fulvaScarceRare23–26 cm
Grey WagtailMotacilla cinereaPassage migrantRare17–20 cmRegularly Apr
White-rumped SandpiperCalidris fuscicollisPassage migrantRare15–18 cmRegularly Jan
CorncrakeCrex crexPassage migrantRare22–30 cmRegularly Dec–Mar
Green SandpiperTringa ochropusSummer visitorRare21–24 cmRegularly Sep–Jan
ChukarAlectoris chukarPassage migrantRare32–38 cmRegularly Jul–Mar
Franklin's GullLeucophaeus pipixcanScarceRare32–36 cm
Black SwanCygnus atratusScarceRare110–142 cm
Western Marsh-harrierCircus aeruginosusPassage migrantRare48–56 cmRegularly Jan
Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusScarceRare52–64 cm
Gentoo PenguinPygoscelis papuaScarceRare75–90 cm
BudgerigarMelopsittacus undulatusPassage migrantRare18–20 cmRegularly Oct
Common ShelduckTadorna tadornaScarceRare58–67 cm
Muscovy DuckCairina moschataPassage migrantRare66–84 cmRegularly Nov
Greylag GooseAnser anserScarceRare75–90 cm
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