Birds of Malawi

List of Common Birds Found in Malawi

Native Birds

• African Blue Flycatcher
• African Broadbill
• African Crowned Eagle
• African Dusky Flycatcher
• African Emerald Cuckoo
• African Finfoot
• African Fish Eagle
• African Goshawk
• African Grey Hornbill
• African Harrier-hawk
• African Marsh Harrier
• African Openbill
• African Paradise Flycatcher
• African Pitta
• African Pygmy Kingfisher
• African Sacred Ibis 
• African Yellow Warbler
• African Yellow White-eye
• Banded Snake Eagle
• Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo
• Bar-tailed Trogon
• Black-and-white Flycatcher
• Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher
• Black-collared Barbet
• Black-collared Bulbul
• Black Cuckoo
• Black-faced Waxbill
• Black-headed Heron
• Black-headed Oriole
• Black-throated Wattle-eye
• Black-winged Bishop
• Black-winged Plover
• Black-winged Red Bishop
• Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher
• Blue Quail
• Blue-spotted Wood Dove
• Boehm’s Spinetail
• Böhm’s Bee-eater
• Brown-backed Honeybird
• Brown-breasted Barbet
• Brown-chested Alethe
• Brown Firefinch
• Brown-headed Parrot
• Buff-spotted Flufftail
• Cape Batis
• Cape Eagle-Owl
• Collared Palm Thrush
• Collared Pratincole
• Collared Sunbird
• Common Hoopoe 
• Coppery-tailed Coucal
• Dark Batis
• Eastern Saw-wing
• Flappet Lark
• Gray Go-Away Bird 
• Greater Honeyguide
• Greater Painted-Snipe
• Green-backed Camaroptera
• Green-breasted Pitta
• Green Malkoha
• Green Twinspot
• Grey-crested Helmetshrike
• Grey Crowned Crane
• Grey-olive Greenbul
• Hadada Ibis 
• Hamerkop 
• Helmeted Guinea Fowl 
• Hooded Vulture 
• Lesser Flamingo
• Lesser Honeyguide
• Lesser Moorhen
• Lilac-breasted Roller
• Lilian’s Lovebird
• Little Bee-eater 
• Livingstone’s Flycatcher
• Livingstone’s Turaco
• Lizard Buzzard
• Marabou Stork 
• Miombo Blue-eared Starling
• Miombo Double-collared Sunbird
• Miombo Rock Thrush
• Miombo Tit
• Mosque Swallow
• Mountain Greenbul
• Mountain Wagtail
• Olive Bee-eater
• Olive-headed Weaver
• Orange Ground Thrush
• Pale Flycatcher
• Pallid Honeyguide
• Palm-nut Vulture
• Pel’s Fishing Owl
• Pennant-winged Nightjar
• Pied Crow 
• Pied Kingfisher 
• Pin-tailed Whydah 
• Plain-backed Pipit
• Plain-backed Sunbird
• Red-backed Mannikin
• Red-capped Robin-Chat
• Red-faced Crimsonwing
• Red-necked Falcon
• Red-necked Spurfowl
• Red-throated Twinspot
• Ross’s Turaco
• Rufous-bellied Heron
• Rufous-bellied Niltava
• Rufous-bellied Tit
• Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush
• Shelley’s Sunbird
• Southern Carmine Bee-eater
• Southern Ground Hornbill
• Southern Hyliota
• Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill 
• Souza’s Shrike
• Spotted Creeper
• Square-tailed Drongo
• Tawny-flanked Prinia
• Thick-billed Seedeater
• Trumpeter Hornbill
• Village Weaver 
• Western Nicator
• White-backed Vulture
• White-breasted Cuckooshrike
• White-breasted Robin-chat
• White-breasted Tit
• White-browed Coucal
• White-chested Tinkerbird
• White-crowned Hornbill
• White-crowned Lapwing
• White-headed Black Chat
• White-tailed Blue Flycatcher
• White-winged Widowbird
• Woodland Kingfisher 
• Yellow-bellied Greenbul
• Yellow-bellied Waxbill
• Yellow-billed Stork
• Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
• Yellow-streaked Greenbul
• Yellow-throated Longclaw

Non-native Birds

• Barred Warbler
• Golden Pipit
• House Sparrow
• Rock Pigeon
• Rufous-tailed Scrub-robin
• Sharpe’s Starling
• White Wagtail

Some of the best birding sites in Malawi include Nyika National Park, Liwonde National Park, and Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve. The peak season for birding in Malawi typically falls during the Southern Hemisphere’s spring and summer months, from September to March.