Birding - Africa's Top 10 Birding Sites

1. Tendaba Camp, The Gambia

For the birds: A mixture of habitats along the Gambia River.

For the birders: About 150km along the Gambia River, well away from the coastal tourist areas, Tendaba Camp provides an excellent base for birding. The Gambia River is easily explored by boat, with good chances of seeing local specialities such as white-backed night heron, African finfoot and fairy blue flycatcher.

2. Mount Kupe, Cameroon

For the birds: Montane forests which, although suffering from human encroachment and timber extraction, still support a variety of birds. Around 330 species have been seen around Mount Kupe and in the 3000ha of surrounding forest.

For the birders: A total of 27 bird species are restricted to the montane forests of western Cameroon, Bioko and eastern Nigeria. Fifteen of these have been recorded in the Mount Kupe forest and two of them were first described from the mountain: the white-throated mountain babbler and the Mount Kupe bush-shrike. Other key species in the area include grey-necked picathartes, green-breasted bush-shrike, Monteiro's bush-shrike and Bates's weaver.

3. The ocean off Cape Town, South Africa

For the birds: Warm coastal waters mix with the cold Benguela Current, bringing nutrient-rich waters from the south. Strong winds create upwellings that force these nutrients to the surface, where they sustain a thriving food web. In addition, trawlers provide a constant source of fish for pelagic birds.

For the birders: A good chance of seeing white-chinned petrel, sooty shearwater, Cape gannet and

Sub-Antarctic skua. The range of species is highest in winter, when you can also see southern and northern giant petrel, Pintado petrel, Antarctic prion and Antarctic tern. Shy, black-browed, Atlantic and Indian yellow-nosed albatrosses can also be seen. Occasionally, rarer varieties of albatross, like wandering, southern and northern royal, are sighted.