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NamibiaSouth AfricaLesotho Namibia / South Africa / Lesotho Ramsar wetland

Orange River

26 bird species recorded; the most in September.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec18at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

Martin Cígler · CC BY-SA 3.0

This month here

11 species in January.

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.

White-necked Raven
White-necked RavenCorvus albicollisSummer visitorYathin S Krishnappa · CC BY-SA 3.0
Orange-breasted RockjumperNT
Orange-breasted RockjumperChaetops aurantiusSummer visitorAlandmanson · CC BY-SA 4.0
Drakensberg Siskin
Drakensberg SiskinCrithagra symonsiSummer visitorAlan Manson · CC BY-SA 2.0
Cape VultureVU
Cape VultureGyps coprotheresResidentUnknown author · Public domain
Speckled Pigeon
Speckled PigeonColumba guineaSummer visitorLip Kee Yap from Singapore, Republic of Singapore · CC BY-SA 2.0
Malachite Sunbird
Malachite SunbirdNectarinia famosaSummer visitorSteve Garvie from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland · CC BY 2.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

26 species, counted.

33out of 100

Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).

  • 26Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 9Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 134Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 2,864 mAltitudeabove the sea
  • 4Raptors
  • 18Songbirds
  • 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 26 species.

By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.

Raptors4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Cape VultureGyps coprotheresVU
  • Bearded VultureGypaetus barbatusNT
  • Jackal BuzzardButeo rufofuscus
  • Rock KestrelFalco rupicolus
Songbirds18 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • White-necked RavenCorvus albicollis
  • Orange-breasted RockjumperChaetops aurantiusNT
  • Drakensberg SiskinCrithagra symonsi
  • Red-winged StarlingOnychognathus morio
  • Cape RobinCossypha caffra
  • BokmakierieTelophorus zeylonus
  • African StonechatSaxicola torquatus
  • Malachite SunbirdNectarinia famosa
  • Cape CanarySerinus canicollis
  • Drakensberg PriniaPrinia hypoxantha
  • Cape CrowCorvus capensis
  • Dark-capped BulbulPycnonotus tricolor
  • Cape BuntingEmberiza capensis
  • Sentinel Rock-thrushMonticola exploratorNT
  • African Scrub-warblerBradypterus barratti
  • Familiar ChatOenanthe familiaris
  • Rock MartinPtyonoprogne fuligula
  • Greater Double-collared SunbirdCinnyris afer
Other birds4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Speckled PigeonColumba guinea
  • Alpine SwiftTachymarptis melba
  • Ground WoodpeckerGeocolaptes olivaceusNT
  • Grey-wing FrancolinScleroptila afra

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 September.

Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.

  1. Jan1120°/8°193 mm
  2. Feb1419°/8°155 mm
  3. Mar1218°/6°115 mm
  4. Apr715°/2°64 mm
  5. May012°/-1°16 mm
  6. Jun169°/-4°14 mm
  7. Jul09°/-4°12 mm
  8. Aug012°/-3°23 mm
  9. Sep1816°/0°32 mm
  10. Oct019°/4°82 mm
  11. Nov1019°/5°115 mm
  12. Dec220°/7°163 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Orange River.

Major river of southern Africa

Orange River is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Namibia, 2,864 m above the sea.

26 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 134 open records.

The most recorded are the Cape Vulture, the Bearded Vulture and the White-necked Raven.

9 species come for the summer, 0 for the winter and 0 only pass through.

1 are threatened worldwide, including Cape Vulture.

The most species are recorded in September.

Údolí řeky Orange - panoramio
Martin Cígler · CC BY-SA 3.0

Get there and watch

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.

Orange River seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 2marked trails within 4 kmMnweni Marathon, Drakensberg Sentinel - Cathedral
  • 2viewpoints within 5 km
  • 7campsites within 10 kmChichi Bush Camp, Campsite 360 and 5 more
  • 4places to stay within 10 km
  • bird hides within 6 km
  • observation towers within 6 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km
  • car parks within 3 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 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 Orange River.

The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas71 mountains within 25 km
Mnweni Pinnacles3,151 m · 4.2 kmIfidi Pinacles3,070 m · 14 kmCathedral Peak3,004 m · 19 kmPhofung3,215 m · 20 kmMont-Aux-Sources3,282 m · 20 kmCastle Buttress2,986 m · 20 kmWindsor Castle2,957 m · 23 kmNamahadi Peak3,274 m · 24 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.

Orange River at Aliwal North
Gregorydavid at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Orange River Panorama
Self · CC BY-SA 2.5
OrangeRiverUpington
paffy · CC BY-SA 2.0

Other places nearby.

Orange River

Namibia

  • 33Birdyas Score
  • 26Species
  • 9Migrants
  • 1Threatened

UKhahlamba / Drakensberg Park

South Africa · 74 km

  • 46Birdyas Score
  • 78Species
  • 21Migrants
  • 2Threatened

See the guide

Umdoni Bird Sanctuary

South Africa · 221 km

  • 73Birdyas Score
  • 302Species
  • 95Migrants
  • 3Threatened

See the guide

Marievale Bird Sanctuary

South Africa · 287 km

  • 79Birdyas Score
  • 359Species
  • 139Migrants
  • 5Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q181475) · CC0
Birds134 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
See these recordsgbif.org
SpeciesGBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas

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.