List of birds of Zimbabwe
This list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) follow the conventions 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.
Order: Galliformes Family: Numididae Guineafowl are a group of African, seed-eating, ground-nesting birds that resemble partridges, but with featherless heads and spangled grey plumage.
Order: Phoenicopteriformes Family: Phoenicopteridae Flamingos are gregarious wading birds, usually 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 m) tall, found in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres.
Their oddly shaped beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they consume and, uniquely, are used upside-down.
Order: Otidiformes Family: Otididae Bustards are large terrestrial birds mainly associated with dry open country and steppes in the Old World.
Order: Charadriiformes 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.
Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked, wading birds with long, stout bills.
Order: Suliformes 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.
Order: Coliiformes Family: Coliidae The mousebirds are slender greyish or brown birds with soft, hairlike body feathers and very long thin tails.
Found in tropical woodlands worldwide, they feed on insects and fruit, and their broad bills and weak legs reflect their diet and arboreal habits.
Order: Bucerotiformes Family: Upupidae Hoopoes have black, white and orangey-pink colouring with a large erectile crest on their head.
Order: Bucerotiformes 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.
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long, pointed bills, short legs and stubby tails.
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Coraciidae Rollers resemble crows in size and build, but are more closely related to the kingfishers and bee-eaters.
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.
Order: Piciformes Family: Picidae Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails and long tongues used for capturing insects.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Calyptomenidae The broadbills are small, brightly coloured birds, which feed on fruit and also take insects in flycatcher fashion, snapping their broad bills.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Pittidae Pittas are medium-sized by passerine standards and are stocky, with fairly long, strong legs, short tails and stout bills.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Platysteiridae The wattle-eyes, or puffback flycatchers, are small stout passerine birds of the African tropics.
Order: Passeriformes 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.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Malaconotidae Bushshrikes are similar in habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Macrosphenidae African warblers are small to medium-sized insectivores which are found in a wide variety of habitats south of the Sahara.
Some are colourful with yellow, red or orange vents, cheeks, throats or supercilia, but most are drab, with uniform olive-brown to black plumage.
Order: Passeriformes 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.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Buphagidae As both the English and scientific names of these birds imply, they feed on ectoparasites, primarily ticks, found on large mammals.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Promeropidae The sugarbirds resemble large sunbirds in general appearance and habits, but are possibly more closely related to the Australian honeyeaters.
