List of birds of Namibia
This list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (English and scientific names) are those of The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 2022 edition.
These birds are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet, flattened bills, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to an oily coating.
Family: Numididae Guineafowl are a group of African, seed-eating, ground-nesting birds that resemble partridges, but with featherless heads and spangled grey plumage.
Their oddly shaped beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they consume and, uniquely, are used upside-down.
Family: Burhinidae The thick-knees are a group of waders found worldwide within the tropical zone, with some species also breeding in temperate Europe and Australia.
Family: Haematopodidae The oystercatchers are large and noisy plover-like birds, with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs.
Family: Rostratulidae Painted-snipes are short-legged, long-billed birds similar in shape to the true snipes, but more brightly coloured.
They are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat.
Variation in length of legs and bills enables multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.
Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head.
Family: Oceanitidae The storm-petrels are the smallest seabirds, relatives of the petrels, feeding on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering.
Family: Procellariidae The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterised by united nostrils with medium septum and a long outer functional primary.
Family: Anhingidae Anhingas or darters are often called "snake-birds" because of their long thin neck, which gives a snake-like appearance when they swim with their bodies submerged.
Found in tropical woodlands worldwide, they feed on insects and fruit, and their broad bills and weak legs reflect their diet and arboreal habits.
Family: Alcedinidae Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails.
Family: Meropidae The bee-eaters are a group of near passerine birds; most species are found in Africa but others occur in southern Europe, Madagascar, Australia, and New Guinea.
Family: Bucerotidae Hornbills are a group of birds whose bill is shaped like a cow's horn, but without a twist, sometimes with a casque on the upper mandible.
They are named for the greater honeyguide which leads traditional honey-hunters to bees' nests and, after the hunters have harvested the honey, feeds on the remaining contents of the hive.
Family: Picidae Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues used for capturing insects.
Family: Eurylaimidae The broadbills are small, brightly coloured birds which feed on fruit and also take insects in flycatcher fashion, snapping their broad bills.
Family: Pittidae Pittas are medium-sized by passerine standards and are stocky, with fairly long, strong legs, short tails, and stout bills.
They spend the majority of their time on wet forest floors, eating snails, insects, and similar invertebrates.
Family: Vangidae The helmetshrikes are similar in build to the shrikes, but tend to be colourful species with distinctive crests or other head ornaments, such as wattles, from which they get their name.
Family: Malaconotidae Bushshrikes are similar in habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush.
Family: Macrosphenidae African warblers are small to medium-sized insectivores which are found in a wide variety of habitats south of the Sahara.
They are generally very small birds of drab brown or grey appearance found in open country such as grassland or scrub.
Some are colourful with yellow, red, or orange vents, cheeks, throats or supercilia, but most are drab, with uniform olive-brown to black plumage.
They mainly occur as breeding species, as the common name implies, in Europe, Asia and, to a lesser extent, Africa.
Family: Zosteropidae The white-eyes are small and mostly undistinguished, their plumage above being generally some dull colour like greenish-olive, but some species have a white or bright yellow throat, breast or lower parts, and several have buff flanks.
Family: Buphagidae As both the English and scientific names of these birds imply, they feed on ectoparasites, primarily ticks, found on large mammals.
