Birds of the Pilanesberg

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.3″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.3″]

Pilanesberg Game Reserve is a birders paradise with over 300 species being recorded. The best time for bird viewing is the summer months where one can one record over 80 species in a single day.What makes the park popular amoungst birders is the six great bird hides dispersed over the reserve which gives guests the opportunity to get out of their vehicles, stretch their legs and enjoy the birdlife. When planning which hide to visit and photograph birds keep the following in mind:

- - West-facing hides: Rathogo provides good photographic lighting in the mornings.
  - East-facing hides: Ruighoek , Mankwe & Malatse are great in the afternoons.
  - North-facing hides: Makorwane and Batlhako are better suited to low light photography on cloudy days.

One of the most popular hides in the park is Mankwe Hide. The dam attracts many water birds such as blacksmith lapwings, grey, black-headed and Goliath herons, pied kingfishers, malachite kingfisher, great white egrets, Egyptian geese and white-faced whistling ducks to name a few. Also be on the look out for the African fish eagle which is seen perching high above overlooking the dam.

Did you know that Ivory Tree Game Lodge offers bird drives which are tailor made to suit everyone, from someone starting out to experience the great joy of Birding to the experienced “Twitcher” looking for that ever elusive “Lifer Tick” to add to their list. Enquire when making the reservation about this activity

Below is a list of the birds that have been recorded in Pilanesberg Game Reserve:

Abdims Stork	Forktailed Drongo	Pied Kingfisher
Afrian Hawk Eagle	Freckled Nightjar	Pied Starling
Afrian Marsh Harrier	Gabar Goshawk	Pintailed Whydah
African Black Duck	Garden Warbler	Plainbacked Pipit
African Crake	Giant Kingfisher	Plumcoloured Starling
African Cuckoo	Glossy Ibis	Puffback
African Fish Eagle	Golden Bishop	Purple Heron
African Hobby Falcon	Goldenbreasted Bunting	Purple Roller
African Jacana	Goldentailed Woodpecker	Purple Widowfinch
African Pied Wagtail	Goliath Heron	Pygmy Kingfisher
African Spoonbill	Grass Owl	Quail Finch
Alpine Swift	Great Crested Grebe	Rameron Pigeon
Anteating chat	Great Reed Warbler	Rattling Cisticola
Arrowmarked Babbler	Great Sparrow	Red Bishop
Ashy Tit	Great Spotted Cuckoo	Redbilled Buffalo Weaver
Avocet	Great White Egret	Redbilled Hornbill
Barn Owl	Greater Flamingo	Redbilled Oxpecker
Barred Warbler	Greater Honeyguide	Redbilled Quelea
Barthroated Apalis	Greater Kestrel	Redbilled Teal
Bateleur	Greater Striped Swallow	Redbilled Woodhoopoe
Bearded Woodpecker	Green Pigeon	Redbreasted Swallow
Bennets Woodpecker	Green Sandpiper	Redcapped Lark
Black Crow	Greenbacked Heron	Redchested Cuckoo
Black Cuckooshrike	Greenshank	Redchested Flufftail
Black Eagle	Greenspotted Dove	Redcollared Widow
Black Egret	Grey Heron	Redeyed Bulbul
Black Flycatcher	Grey Hornbill	Redeyed Dove
Black Kite	Grey Lourie	Redfaced Mousebird
Black Korhan	Grey Penduline Tit	Redheaded Finch
Black Sparrowhawk	Greybacked Bleating Warbler	Redheaded Weaver
Black Stork	Greyheaded Bush Shrike	Redknobbed Coot
Black Sunbird	Greyheaded Sparrow	Redthroated Wryneck
Black Swift	Greyhooded Kingfisher	Redwinged Starling
Black Widowfinch	Groundscraper Thrush	Reed Cormorant
Blackbreasted Snake Eagle	Gymnogene	Richards pipit
Blackcheeked Waxbill	Hadeda Ibis	Rock Bunting
Blackchested Prinia	Halfcollared Kingfisher	Rock Kestrel
Blackcollared Barbet	Hamerkop	Rock Martin
Blackcrowned Night Heron	Harlequin Quail	Rock Pigeon
Blackcrowned Tchagra	Helmeted Guineafowl	Ruff
Blackeyed Bulbul	Hobby Falcon	Rufouscheeked Nightjar
Blackheaded Heron	Honey Buzzard	Rufousnaped Lark
Blackheaded Oriole	Hoopoe	Sabota Lark
Blackshouldered Kite	Horus Swift	Sacred Ibis
Blacksmith Plover	House Martin	Sanderling
Blackthroated Canary	House Sparrow	Scalyfeathered Finch
Blackwinged Stilt	Icterine Babbler	Scimitarbilled Woodhoopoe
Blue Crane	Jackal Buzzard	Secretary Bird
Blue Waxbill	Jacobin Cuckoo	Shaft-tailed Whydah
Bluebilled Finch	Jamesons Firefinch	Shelleys Francolin
Bluecheeked Bee-eater	Kalahari Robin	Short-toed Rock Thrush
Bluegrey Flycatcher	Klass’s Cuckoo	Sops Owl
Bokmakierie	Knob-billed Duck	South African Shelduck
Booted Eagle	Kori Bustard	Southern Black Tit
Broadbilled Roller	Kurrichane Buttonquail	Southern Boubou
Bronze Manniken	Kurrichane Thrush	Southern Pochard
Bronzewinged Courser	Lanner Falcon	Speckled Mousebird
Brown Snake Eagle	Lappetfaced Vulture	Spotted Dikkop
Brownhooded Kingfisher	Larklike Bunting	Spotted Eagle Owl
Brownthroated Marten	Laughing Dove	Spotted Flycatcher
Brubru	Lazy Cisticola	Spottedbaked Weaver
Buffy Pipit	Lesser Flamingo	Spurwinged Goose
Burchells Coucal	Lesser Grey Shrike	Squacco Heron
Burntnecked Eremomela	Lesser Honeyguide	Steelblue Widowfinch
Bushveld Pipit	Lesser Masked Weaver	Steppe Buzzard
Cape Eagle Owl	Lesser Moorhen	Steppe Eagle
Cape Glossy Starling	Lesser Striped Swallow	Stonechat
Cape Penduline Tit	Levalliants Cisticola	Streakyheaded Canary
Cape Reed Warbler	Lilacbreasted Roller	Striped Cuckoo
Cape Robin	Little Banded Goshawk	Striped Kingfisher
Cape Rock Thrush	Little Bee-eater	Striped Pipit
Cape Sparrow	Little Bittern	Swainsons Francolin
Cape Turtle Dove	Little Egret	Tawny Eagle
Cape Vulture	Little Sparrowhawk	Tawnyflanked Prinia
Cape Wagtail	Little Stint	Temmincks Courser
Cape White-eye	Little Swift	Threebanded Plover
Capped Wheatear	Longbilled Crombec	Threestreaked Tchagra
Cardinal Woodpecker	Longbilled Pipit	Tit Babbler
Carmine Bee-eater	Longtailed Shrike	Tree Pipit
Cattle Egret	Longtailed Widow	Violeteared Waxbill
Chinspot Batis	Malachite Kingfisher	Wahlbergs Eagle
Cloud Cisticola	Maribou Stork	Waiting Cisticola
Common Quail	Marico Flycatcher	Water Dikkop
Common Sandpiper	Marico Sunbird	Wattled Plover
Common Waxbill	Marsh Owl	Wattled Starling
Coqui Francolin	Marsh Sandpiper	White Helmetshrike
Crested Barbet	Martial Eagle	White Stork
Crested Francolin	Masked Weaver	Whitebacked Duck
Crimson Boubou	Melba Finch	Whitebacked Mousebird
Crowned Plover	Melodious Lark	Whitebacked Night Heron
Cut-throat Finch	Mocking Chat	Whitebacked Vulture
Dabchick	Monotonous Lark	Whitebellied Sunbird
Darter	Moorhen	Whitebreasted Cormorant
Desert Cisticola	Mountain Chat	Whitebrowed Robin
Diederick Cuckoo	Namaqua Dove	Whitebrowed Sparrow-weaver
Dusty Lark	Natal Francolin	Whitecrowned Shrike
Egyptian Goose	Neddicky	Whitefaced Duck
Ethiopian Snipe	Olive Thrush	Whitefaced Owl
European Bee-eater	Orangebreasted Bush Shrike	Whitefronted Bee-eater
European Cuckoo	Orangebreasted Waxbill	Whiterumped Swift
European Golden Oriole	Orangethroated Longclaw	Whitethroat
European Marsh Warbler	Osprey	Whitethroated Robin
European Nightjar	Ostrich	Whitethroated Swallow
European Roller	Ovambo Sparrowhawk	Whitewinged Tern
European Swallow	Painted Snipe	Whitewinged Widow
European Swift	Pale Chanting Goshawk	Willow Warbler
Fairy Flycatcher	Palm Swift	Wood Sandpiper
Familiar Chat	Paradise Flycatcher	Woodland Kingfisher
Fantailed Cisticola	Paradise Whydah	Yellowbellied Eremomela
Fantailed Flycatcher	Pearlbreasted Swallow	Yellowbilled Duck
Fawncoloured Lark	Pearlspotted Owl	Yellowbilled Egret
Fierynecked Nightjar	Peregrine Falcon	Yellowbilled Hornbill
Fiscal Flycatcher	Pied Babbler	Yellowbilled Kite
Fiscal Shrike	Pied Barbet	Yellowbilled Stork
Flapper Lark	Pied Crow	Yelloweyed Canary

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

By Simon Cox|June 4th, 2020|Uncategorized|Comments Off

About the Author: Simon Cox

putneypaul2023

2023-06-08

Great Place The welcome, the lodge overall and the game drives were honestly really good. Werner, our ranger for our stay, was brilliant. Food was faultless and the staff always happy and helpful. Only one thing I think they could change and that is the quad bike riding. Nice to be able to do it but the route we were taken was far from good and if I had known I would not have done it.

Raymond D

2023-06-07

A great safari Safari was great, not as big as expected but big enough to see the majority of the big five. Rishen was our guide who had vast experience with the terrain and animals. We got to see a lion and several lionesses at close range. Elephants be it at a distance, rhinos, giraffes and others.

jbushman2017

2023-06-01

Great Safari/Game Lodge Experience This lodge with its 60 rooms offers a great experience and offers a safari package that was better than other lodges. The standard rooms are bungalows with their own exterior patio that exudes lots of charm. The main facility hosts a lounge, bar, conference rooms and both indoor and outdoor dinning. The Lodge is just inside one of the entrance gates to the park. We choose this lodge (among the others) because the room prices were about the same as the other lodges but they offered full-board for guests (others offered only 2 meals),two game drives each day instead of one, and they used modified game trucks that held a maximum of 10 passengers not 20 so you could see animals better. Having been to other lodges before, I really liked IvoryTree. If offered everything I wanted for a less expensive price. If you come, remember that Sun City is also close by and while IvoryTree provides two game drives a day you can also drive through the park with your own car if you wish. We came to Ivory Tree and spent two nights, did the game drives and then when we checked out, we drove back through the park on our own before stopping at Sun City for a few nights (which resides right next to a different park entrance) and continued our vacation

slewis180735

2023-05-28

Enjoyable stay, but the room could have been better thought through Hotel was good, food was a bit variable - the a la carte food was much better than the buffet food. Really enjoyed the game drives. On the room - we only had an outdoor shower. Outdoor showers are great in summer, but it was winter and mornings and evenings are cold. Very cold. An outdoor shower would only work if there was very good water pressure - this was not the case, it was not much more than a trickle Therefore, we had no shower and the bath was tiny. There was a coffee machine in the room - nice coffee, but you're only allowed one cup of coffee per day per adult (assuming that you think decaff is pointless). This's just mean. And despite repeated requests to reception and hotel management, the room safe remained locked and unusable through our entire stay. Seems that when staff say they will do something, just not bothering is fine for them.

Mapaseka_87

2023-05-28

Five star the staff lived to a stardard of the lodge.i mean everyone works there..My game drive driver included he is awesome 🙌🏻 ..front desk staff👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 and the lodge is top notch...i had a great expirience

KimmyK

2023-05-27

Thank you to our ranger Jannes & the Ivory Tree team for an unforgettable experience! Thank you to the Ivory tree team for making us feel at home during our 3 night stay. It was absolutely memorable and something we hold dear to our hearts. The level of service, always being greeted with a smile and such delicious food made the world of difference. A special shout out to our game ranger “Jannes” for our unforgettable 6 game drives, despite the early, chilled mornings each drive was something to look forward to as we always returned back having learned something new. A core memory my fiancé and I experienced on our last morning, while the crowds stuck together looking ahead, Jannes knew exactly where to be and what to listen out for, after a couple of minutes in silence we had the most incredible sighting of this beautiful leopard and her two cubs right in front of our game vehicle. As a soft-spoken ranger, he is incredibly knowledgeable about the bush and eager to teach all guests something new. His level of professionalism was evident at all times and don’t get me started on the delicious Amarula hot chocolate! We will most certainly be back!

bmould708687

2023-05-08

Fantastic Discovery A last minute decision to extend our visit in the area and found this Gem. Wished we could have stayed a few more days. However, in Just one day we were made to feel special and the food was delicious. game drive spectacular .Will be back

NickMannie

2023-05-02

Ivory Tree Game Lodge , an Experience at its best1 Excellent short holiday at an amazing place with really Great Customer Service, hospitality at its best from the staff and the Rangers duty of care towards his guest and knowlwdge of the bush and animals left us astounded! We learnt a lot and we are proud to have visited an amazing site.

LutzRahe63

2023-04-29

super stay, super game drives The Ivory Tree game lodge is a wonderful stay. Very tasy buffets of breakfast, lunch and dinners. Also in the Boma during the night. The pool I havent triedBut best is: you will have a personal ranger. Alsoways the same during for safari tours. And Sean was the best ever (saw 5x the lions on different places)

2023-04-20

Unforgettable stay Where do I begin? The entire stay was perfect from start to finish. Check in was easy and the staff were helpful. Our lodge accommodation was beautiful and tastefully decorated in a bush theme. The meals were delicious. On days where there were more guests (most days), the meals were buffet style and on days with less guests it was A la Carte. There was always something I could eat as a vegetarian, especially in the buffet there was lots of choice. We stayed five nights, and on two of the nights they had a Boma for dinner - which is outside dining around a fire with a huge buffet and meat being cooked on the grill. The waiters were so friendly and one in particular, Brian, always reserved us a table for the three of us. The safari drives were incredible, and our ranger Tarryn was so friendly and knowledgeable. She went out of her way to find the animals and teach us things. She made an effort to ensure everyone saw as many different animals as possible, even though groups would leave and join, and even after 9 drives we never felt bored and always loved every second. We say 42 new species of animals and birds, including lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, hippo, giraffe, zebra, impala and kudu. On each morning drive, you stop half way for coffee (with or without Amarula) and biscuits. On the evening drives you stop for drinks (choice of alcoholic or soft drinks) and nibbles. The drives start at 6am and you get a wake up call at 5.30 to your lodge room, but you can choose not to go on the drives if you prefer (tell your ranger the day before if you don't want the wake up call). One day we decided to skip the morning drive and do the quad biking experience through the bush and local village, which was fun. There are other activities to try too such as drumming, archery, rifle shooting (we didn't try these). After the morning drives, you return around 9am in time for breakfast. The afternoon drives are at 4pm and you return around 7pm in time for dinner. The housekeeping staff were amazing and came every day to change the bedding and clean, in fact they came twice a day as our son was sleeping on the sofa bed, so they came whilst we were on the morning safari drive to convert it back to a sofa and again whilst we were on the evening drive to convert it back to a bed!Tips: We went mid April and whilst the day time is sunny and sun-bathing weather, the safari drives can get very cold before sunrise/after sunset as you're in an open vehicle with wind rushing past

Birds of the Pilanesberg

Below is a list of the birds that have been recorded in Pilanesberg Game Reserve:

About the Author: Simon Cox

Jerusalema Dance Challenge

Cheetah’s of the park

Africa’s big 5

What Our Guests Say

Navigate:

Secure Payments:

Partners:

Managed by:

Birds of the Pilanesberg

Below is a list of the birds that have been recorded in Pilanesberg Game Reserve:

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

About the Author: Simon Cox

Related Posts

Jerusalema Dance Challenge

Cheetah’s of the park

Africa’s big 5

What Our Guests Say

Navigate:

Secure Payments:

Partners:

Managed by: