Namibia Ramsar wetland
Sandwich Harbour
90 bird species recorded; the most in July.
Red Dune Safaris · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
50 species in January.65 species in February.30 species in March.9 species in April.41 species in May.47 species in June.75 species in July.54 species in August.47 species in September.39 species in October.46 species in November.24 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.
VU
VU
NT
NT
VU
NT
VUNT
NT
NT
NT
NTNT
VU
NT
VUNT
VUNT
VUVUNTNTVUNTNTNTVU
VU
NTVUNTNTNTNTVU- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
90 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).
- 90Speciesrecorded more than once
- 25Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 2ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 2,445Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 5Raptors
- 1Owls
- 25Waders
- 14Gulls & seabirds
- 5Ducks & geese
- 12Herons, ibises & grebes
- 3Flamingos
- 18Songbirds
- 7Other 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 90 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Pale Chanting-goshawkMelierax canorus
- Jackal BuzzardButeo rufofuscus
- Rock KestrelFalco rupicolus
- Augur BuzzardButeo augur
- LannerFalco biarmicus
Owls1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Spotted Eagle-OwlBubo africanus
Waders25 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferrugineaVU
- White-fronted PloverCharadrius marginatus
- Pied AvocetRecurvirostra avosetta
- Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Bar-tailed godwitLimosa lapponicaNT
- African OystercatcherHaematopus moquini
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
- Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
- Three-banded PloverCharadrius tricollaris
- Little StintCalidris minuta
- Eurasian CurlewNumenius arquataNT
- Chestnut-banded PloverCharadrius pallidus
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
- Red KnotCalidris canutusNT
- Terek SandpiperXenus cinereus
- Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
- Blacksmith LapwingVanellus armatus
- Eurasian OystercatcherHaematopus ostralegusNT
- Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula
- RuffCalidris pugnax
- Cape Thick-kneeBurhinus capensis
- Greater Sand PloverCharadrius leschenaultii
- Wood SandpiperTringa glareola
Gulls & seabirds14 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Southern Black-backed GullLarus dominicanus
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Great Crested-TernThalasseus bergii
- Damara TernSternula balaenarum
- Hartlaub's GullChroicocephalus hartlaubii
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Cape GannetMorus capensis
- Black SkimmerRynchops niger
- White-winged TernChlidonias leucopterus
- Sooty shearwaterPuffinus griseus
- Grey-headed GullChroicocephalus cirrocephalus
- Pomarine SkuaStercorarius pomarinus
- Brown SkuaStercorarius antarcticus
Ducks & geese5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Cape TealAnas capensis
- Red-billed TealAnas erythrorhyncha
- Cape ShelduckTadorna cana
- Egyptian GooseAlopochen aegyptiaca
- Cape ShovelerSpatula smithii
Herons, ibises & grebes12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Cape CormorantPhalacrocorax capensis
- Great White PelicanPelecanus onocrotalus
- Eared GrebePodiceps nigricollis
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- White-breasted CormorantPhalacrocorax lucidus
- Little GrebeTachybaptus ruficollis
- Crowned CormorantMicrocarbo coronatus
- Black-headed HeronArdea melanocephala
- African SpoonbillPlatalea alba
- Great White EgretArdea alba
Flamingos3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Lesser FlamingoPhoeniconaias minorNT
- Greater FlamingoPhoenicopterus roseus
- Caribbean FlamingoPhoenicopterus ruber
Songbirds18 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- African Reed WarblerAcrocephalus baeticatus
- Cape WagtailMotacilla capensis
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- MossiePasser melanurus
- Common WaxbillEstrilda astrild
- Black-chested PriniaPrinia flavicans
- Cape CrowCorvus capensis
- Southern Masked WeaverPloceus velatus
- Dusky SunbirdCinnyris fuscus
- Dune LarkCalendulauda erythrochlamys
- Grey-backed Sparrow-LarkEremopterix verticalis
- Eurasian Reed WarblerAcrocephalus scirpaceus
- Pied CrowCorvus albus
- Orange River White-eyeZosterops pallidus
- Common FiscalLanius collaris
- Red-capped LarkCalandrella cinerea
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Rock MartinPtyonoprogne fuligula
Other birds7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Laughing DoveSpilopelia senegalensis
- Common OstrichStruthio camelus
- Red-knobbed CootFulica cristata
- Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
- Little SwiftApus affinis
- Speckled PigeonColumba guinea
- Ring-necked DoveStreptopelia capicola
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 July.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan21°/17°9 mm
- Feb21°/17°10 mm
- Mar21°/16°14 mm
- Apr21°/16°12 mm
- May21°/15°1 mm
- Jun20°/13°1 mm
- Jul20°/13°1 mm
- Aug18°/12°1 mm
- Sep18°/12°2 mm
- Oct18°/13°4 mm
- Nov19°/14°5 mm
- Dec20°/15°6 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Sandwich Harbour.
Coast
Sandwich Harbour is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Namibia.
90 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 2,445 open records.
The most recorded are the Southern Black-backed Gull, the African Reed Warbler and the Curlew Sandpiper.
6 species come for the summer, 16 for the winter and 3 only pass through.
2 are threatened worldwide, including Curlew Sandpiper and Grey Plover.
The most species are recorded in July.
Get there and watch
- Walvis Bay International Airport (WVB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 46 km in a straight lineCar hire at WVB airport (Walvis Bay)Discover 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
- 1viewpoints within 5 kmSandwich Harbor viewpoint
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 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.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
Sandwich Harbour
Namibia
- 48Birdyas Score
- 90Species
- 25Migrants
- 2Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q491499) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 2,445 open bird records within 6 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 |
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
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
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
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit