Birds to See in Zambia in May
44 species listed for May · birdwatchers' records, 2019–2024
44 bird species on our list for Zambia are recorded regularly in May. Of these, the most often recorded are Fork-tailed Drongo, Pied Crow, Egyptian Goose, Cattle Egret and Helmeted Guineafowl. New this month: White-bellied Bustard, Secretarybird, Crowned Eagle and Alpine Swift.
Residents
(31)Recorded all year
Fork-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus adsimilisLC
Recorded all year
Pied Crow
Corvus albusLC
Recorded all year
Egyptian Goose
Alopochen aegyptiacaLC
Recorded all year
Cattle Egret
Ardea ibisLC
Recorded all year
Helmeted Guineafowl
Numida meleagrisLC
Recorded all year
African Jacana
Actophilornis africanusLC
Recorded all year
Grey Heron
Ardea cinereaLC
Recorded all year
Great White Egret
Ardea albaLC
Recorded all year
Spur-winged Goose
Plectropterus gambensisLC
Recorded all year
Glossy Ibis
Plegadis falcinellusLC
Recorded all year
House Sparrow
Passer domesticusLC
Recorded all year
Squacco Heron
Ardeola ralloidesLC
Recorded all year
Little Egret
Egretta garzettaLC
Recorded all year
Southern Masked Weaver
Ploceus velatusLC
Recorded all year
Great Cormorant
Phalacrocorax carboLC
Recorded all year
Lesser Striped Swallow
Cecropis abyssinicaLC
Recorded all year
Barn Owl
Tyto albaLC
Recorded all year
Little Grebe
Tachybaptus ruficollisLC
Recorded all year
African Marsh Harrier
Circus ranivorusLC
Recorded all year
Moorhen
Gallinula chloropusLC
Recorded all year
Hoopoe
Upupa epopsLC
Recorded all year
Greenshank
Tringa nebulariaLC
Recorded all year
Purple Heron
Ardea purpureaLC
Recorded all year
Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareolaLC
Recorded all year
Magpie Shrike
Urolestes melanoleucusLC
Recorded all year
Lanner Falcon
Falco biarmicusLC
Recorded all year
Rock Dove
Columba liviaLC
Recorded all year
Black-crowned Night-heron
Nycticorax nycticoraxLC
Recorded all year
Little Bittern
Ixobrychus minutusLC
Recorded all year
Common Reed-warbler
Acrocephalus scirpaceusLC
Regularly Mar–Jan
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Dendrocygna bicolorLC
Recorded all year
Summer visitors
(9)Arrives to breed; scarce or absent in winter
Barn Swallow
Hirundo rusticaLC
Regularly Sep–May
Common Sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucosLC
Regularly Jul–May
Osprey
Pandion haliaetusLC
Recorded all year
White-winged Tern
Chlidonias leucopterusLC
Regularly Aug–May
Ruff
Calidris pugnaxLC
Regularly Jul–May
Little Stint
Calidris minutaLC
Regularly Aug–May
Ringed Plover
Charadrius hiaticulaLC
Regularly Sep–May
House Martin
Delichon urbicumLC
Regularly Sep–May
Sand Martin
Riparia ripariaLC
Regularly Oct–May
Winter visitors
(2)Present outside the breeding season
Passage migrants
(2)Seen mainly in spring and autumn migration
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