For a landlocked country dominated by a single biome, miombo woodland, Zambia has a comparatively rich avifauna. To date, 751 species have been recorded. Of this total, well over 600 species are residents or Afrotropical migrants which breed here. About 100 are non-breeding migrants or vagrants from the Palaearctic region and the remainder comprise non-breeding Afrotropical migrants and vagrants. Zambia's only true endemic species is the Zambian or Chaplin's Barbet, although Black-cheeked Lovebird is virtually so and quite a number of other species have the greater proportion of their range within Zambia. If recognised as a valid species, the White-chested Tinkerbird (Pogoniulus makawai) is endemic. The possibility of it being rediscovered cannot be excluded, and is an exciting prospect for any birder.

Zambia contains the bulk of miombo woodland in Africa, and is the best country to see Zambezian endemics, such as coppery-tailed coucal, Boehm's bee-eater, Arnot's chat, red-and-blue sunbird, chestnut-mantled sparrow-weaver and bar-winged weaver, among many others. It also has incredible wetlands, such as the Kafue Flats, the Bangweulu Swamps and the Busanga Plains in Kafue National Park. It is a key country for shoebills and wattled cranes, and incredible numbers of waders and ducks overwinter in these vast wetlands, and breed in the wet months.

Consult the checklist for the full range of species that can be seen.

Zambia is part of the WorldBirds initiative. Please visit www.worldbirds.org to enter your sightings on the Zambian database.