Think that spotting a hadeda out your bedroom window is as exciting as birdwatching gets? Not so fast.
Avitourism is the official term used to describe tourism centred on birdwatching: travelling to see birds in their natural habitats, whether to spot a rare species, add to a birding list or simply enjoy the birdlife of a particular place. It’s also big business.
For serious birders, the birds dictate the destination. These folk would happily spend hours beside a vlei or in a hide, waiting for a rare feathered visitor. Apparently, birders often marry birders — these birds of a feather really do flock together.
South Africa’s remarkable birdlife draws enthusiasts from around the world, with avitourism estimated to contribute R5bn annually to the economy, according to BirdLife South Africa.
In 2024, BirdLife South Africa invited a media group to experience a few days of birding along the Garden Route and into the Klein Karoo so that we could get an understanding of the avitourism concept.
BirdLife South Africa, an NGO dedicated to protecting the country’s birds and habitats, has been the authority on birds and conservation for more than a century. Its roots date back to 1904, when the South African Ornithologists’ Union was founded. In 1996, the organisation adopted the name BirdLife South Africa, joining the BirdLife International global partnership.
Lesson 101 was that birding is all about getting into a zone where you just listen. Very often you hear the call long before you see the bird. That’s true. I know because ever since this seminal birding trip I’ve been tuned in, and I now hear a turaco barking long before I see it.
A garden of delights
The Garden Route and Klein Karoo host more than 450 species, which is just over half of South Africa’s bird species. The Garden Route’s natural bounty of unique indigenous habitat and its location along the southern coastal belt mean that it is also rich in endemic and near-endemic birds. Just under 50 of the country’s 69 endemic birds have been recorded there, making it one of South Africa’s birding hubs.
Some of the specials you can hope to see in the coastal forest belt are the Knysna warbler, Knysna woodpecker and Knysna turaco, while the Karoo’s collection of characters includes the Karoo chat, Karoo eremomela and Karoo lark. Cape sugarbirds, Cape rockjumpers and Cape siskins can be found where there is fynbos.
There are close to 30 popular birding sites profiled mainly along the coast between Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay, and another 60 sites were identified across the Garden Route in 2024.
John Kinghorn, BirdLife South Africa’s avitourism project manager, tells the FM that the South African avitourism industry was worth about R4.5bn annually in 2023 and has grown to around R5.06bn.
“Globally, birding continues to follow this positive trend, growing in popularity. In the US, it is estimated that 96-million people actively observe or identify birds.” This is a crucial statistic for South Africa given that the US is our top overseas tourism market, says Kinghorn. “Often, you will hear birders acknowledge that had it not been for birding, they wouldn’t have known about this place.”
Birdwatchers travel around the country more widely than the average leisure tourist and often visit smaller towns and rural areas. This is all good for the economy.
Kinghorn says South Africa is “an extremely popular and well-established birding destination, with many overseas guests coming specifically for birding. This is because of the wide diversity of birds, endemic species found nowhere else and varied habitats that are often within reasonable driving distance of one another. There are also good roads, good accommodation and a network of highly skilled birding guides.”
Visitors from the US, the UK and Western Europe, particularly the Netherlands and Germany, enjoy our birds. There has also been an increase in avitourists from India, Japan, China and Singapore, he says.
South Africa has a knowledgeable and active birding community, which drives the development of infrastructure and service providers that cater to and support the avitourism industry as a whole. A network of active bird clubs across the country and dedicated events such as the Bitou Birding Festival, the South African Bird Fair and others organised by BirdLife South Africa all support the growing sector.
Head to Plett
Stephan van Wyk is the organiser and founder of the Bitou Birding Festival, which is coming up for its third edition this month. He describes the Plettenberg Bay and wider Bitou area as an exceptional place to bird because, although relatively small geographically, it is rich in different experiences all within easy travelling distance of one another.
The wider Plett area offers more than 300 species of birds and is home to sought-after endemics and near-endemics.
There are the Afromontane forests, where you can wander beneath towering and ancient canopies while watching for the flash of a Narina trogon. Then stroll the fynbos hills in the Cape floral kingdom and spot dazzling endemics such as the Cape sugarbird or orange-breasted sunbird. Swap your walking shoes for a canoe, glide down the Bitou River and get up close and personal with more than 70 bird species, including the half-collared kingfisher.
There’s also real birding adventure to be had on the ocean, so hop on a boat and head into a wild marine territory of albatrosses and petrels.
“For many years I went to the bush with my camera chasing the big animals, but over time my attention began shifting towards birds. Birding forces one to slow down, listen, observe and be completely present in the landscape,” says Van Wyk. This echoes the theme of this year’s Bitou Birding Festival: “Slow down. Look up. Reconnect”.
The gathering isn’t only for serious birders; beginners, photographers and nature lovers are also welcome. The inaugural event in 2024 attracted more than 250 birders from around South Africa and the world. More are expected this year.
The festival is made up of many small experiences — guided walks, talks and activities — rather than one large central event. Conservation is a big deal and the festival connects the public with local organisations like Raptor Rescue and the Plett Stranding Network, while also raising funds for them.
The 2026 Bitou Birding Festival runs from October 23 to 30 throughout Plettenberg Bay and the wider Bitou region. The hub for the fest is Kwendalo, a holistic wellness and education centre which is home to three hides and prolific birds. A day’s watching yielded 32 birds in just a couple of hours from these three hides, says Van Wyk.
A wide range of activities will be on offer, including bird netting and bird-ringing, stand-up-paddle birding, a river boat cruise and more. Visit bitou.birdingfestival.co.za
Birds the word
If you are going to call yourself a birder, you’d better understand the basics and lingo.
A twitcher is somebody who is serious about watching birds; embarking on a twitch means going on a birdwatching trip.
A dip is the official word birders use when they hurtle somewhere at high speed or spend hours waiting for that one little bird that doesn’t show up. It’s birding lingo for disappointed.
A stringer is a person who fibs about the birds they have seen — a mortal sin in the birding world.
Suppressors don’t share their sightings with the birding fraternity.
A person who starts watching birds seriously is called a lister. They can record their finds on gobirding.birdlife.org.za/south-african-listers-club/
Entry-level birders have about 300 birds on their list. Peacocks (unless you have seen them on Robben Island) and chickens don’t count.
Serious birders have 500, while the obsessive kind might have 700. According to Kinghorn, only four people have seen more than 800 bird species in South Africa.
If you want to join the Listers’ Club, explore birding sites and find specialist accommodation, visit gobirding.birdlife.org.za
