Endemics are what we birders love. Endemics are birds that occur nowhere else in the world except in a region or area. We have 93 species of endemics in Southern Africa. These are species that occur nowhere else in the world except in our region.

What is even more amazing is when a family is endemic. That is a family of which all members of a species occur in a region or area and no other members of that family occur anywhere else in the world. That entire family can ony be seen in one region.

The Rockjumpers are an example of just such a family. In fact the entire family can only be seen within the outer borders of South Africa. The Drakensberg Rockjumper does occur in Lesotho as well but cannot be found in any of our neighboring countries.

Here is a full list of our endemic species. This excludes near-endemics which do extend a bit out of our birding region but are still localized and found nowhere else in the world.

Forest Buzzard
Jackal Buzzard
Black Harrier
Cape Vulture
Bank Cormorant
Crowned Cormorant
Hartlaub’s Gull
African Oystercatcher
African Penguin
South African Shelduck
Cape Shoveler
Fynbos Buttonquail
Blue Crane
Grey-winged Francolin
Southern Bald Ibis
Northern Black Korhaan
Cape Rockjumper
Drakensberg Rockjumper
Cape Spurfowl
Ground Woodpecker
Southern Pied Babbler
Cape Batis
Bush Blackcap
Southern Boubou
Cape Bulbul
Forest Canary
Cape Canary
Black-headed Canary
Buff-streaked Chat
Ant-eating Chat
Sickle-winged Chat

Rufous-winged Cisticola
Karoo Eremomela
Fiscal Flycatcher
Fairy Flycatcher
Cape Grassbird
Cape Clapper Lark
Melodious Lark
Rudd’s Lark
Karoo Lark
Red Lark
Barlow’s Lark
Dune Lark
Stark’s Lark
Sclater’s Lark
Large-billed Lark
Short-clawed Lark
Cape Long-billed Lark
Agulhas Long-billed Lark
Eastern Long-billed Lark
Karoo Long-billed Lark
Cape Longclaw
White-backed Mousebird
African rock Pipit
Yellow-breasted Pipit
Karoo Prinia
Drakensberg Prinia
White-throated Robin-chat
Chorister Robin-chat
Cape Rock Thrush
Sentinel Rock Thrush
Karoo Scrub-rinb

Brown Scrub-Robin
Protea Seedeater
Cape Siskin
Drakensberg Siskin
Black-eared Sparrowlark
Pied Starling
Cape Sugarbird
Gurney’s Sugarbird
Southern Double-collared Sunbird
Neergard’s Sunbird
Orange-breasted Sunbird
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Southern Tchagra
Karoo Thrush
Grey Tit
Layard’s Titbabbler
Knysna Turaco
Pink-throated Twinspot
Knysna Warbler
Barratt’s Warbler
Victorin’s Warbler
Roberts’s Warbler
Rufous-eared Warbler
Namaqua Warbler
Cinnamon-breasted Warbler
Swee Waxbill
Sociable Weaver
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Orange River White-eye
Knysna Woodpecker