Malawi Ramsar wetland
Lake Chilwa
42 bird species recorded; the most in January.
Felefuchs · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
32 species in January.0 species in February.9 species in March.13 species in April.0 species in May.1 species in June.0 species in July.22 species in August.9 species in September.14 species in October.3 species in November.22 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
42 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 42Speciesrecorded more than once
- 17Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 0ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 196Recordsopen records within 15 km
- 622 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 3Raptors
- 7Waders
- 3Gulls & seabirds
- 3Ducks & geese
- 14Herons, ibises & grebes
- 1Storks & cranes
- 7Songbirds
- 4Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 42 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- African Marsh HarrierCircus ranivorus
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
- Lesser kestrelFalco naumanni
Waders7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- African JacanaActophilornis africanus
- Wood SandpiperTringa glareola
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
- Lesser JacanaMicroparra capensis
- Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
- Long-toed LapwingVanellus crassirostris
- Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
Gulls & seabirds3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Grey-headed GullChroicocephalus cirrocephalus
- Whiskered TernChlidonias hybrida
- White-winged TernChlidonias leucopterus
Ducks & geese3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Blue-billed TealSpatula hottentota
- Fulvous Whistling-duckDendrocygna bicolor
- White-faced Whistling-duckDendrocygna viduata
Herons, ibises & grebes14 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- HamerkopScopus umbretta
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Pink-backed PelicanPelecanus rufescens
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Black HeronEgretta ardesiaca
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Squacco HeronArdeola ralloides
- Black-headed HeronArdea melanocephala
- Purple heronArdea purpurea
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- Long-tailed CormorantMicrocarbo africanus
- Great White PelicanPelecanus onocrotalus
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
Storks & cranes1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Openbill StorkAnastomus lamelligerus
Songbirds7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Motacilla aguimpMotacilla aguimp
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Rufous-winged CisticolaCisticola galactotes
- Orange-breasted WaxbillAmandava subflava
- Red BishopEuplectes orix
- Red-shouldered WhydahEuplectes axillaris
- Yellow-throated LongclawMacronyx croceus
Other birds4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Little Bee-eaterMerops pusillus
- Blue-cheeked Bee-eaterMerops persicus
- Pied KingfisherCeryle rudis
- Malachite KingfisherCorythornis cristatus
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in January.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan28°/21°343 mm
- Feb27°/20°227 mm
- Mar27°/20°189 mm
- Apr26°/17°60 mm
- May26°/15°18 mm
- Jun24°/13°16 mm
- Jul24°/12°28 mm
- Aug27°/14°8 mm
- Sep31°/17°8 mm
- Oct33°/20°17 mm
- Nov33°/21°94 mm
- Dec30°/21°238 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Lake Chilwa.
Lake in Malawi
Lake Chilwa is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Malawi, 622 m above the sea.
42 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 196 open records.
The most recorded are the African Jacana, the Grey-headed Gull and the Hamerkop.
12 species come for the summer, 2 for the winter and 3 only pass through.
The most species are recorded in January.
Get there and watch
- Insacanearest town · 22 km in a straight line
- Chileka International Airport (BLZ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 89 km in a straight lineCar hire in BlantyreDiscover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- campsites within 10 km
- places to stay within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Lake Chilwa.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas2 mountains within 25 kmSongani Hill · 23 kmChanda Hill · 23 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q746975) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 196 open bird records within 15 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Lakeyas, Darkskyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
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