Cape Birding Day Trip

The Cape Peninsula - African Penguin Tour

Top birds

•  African Penguin

•  Bank Cormorant

•  African Oystercatcher

•  Knysna Warbler

•  Cape Siskin

•  Orange-breasted Sunbird

•  Southern Double-collared Sunbird

•  Cape Sugarbird

Typical Birding Sites

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, Kommetjie, Cape Point, Simonstwon Boulders Beach African Penguin Colony, Strandfontein Waste Water Treatment Works and if time allows, Cape of Good Hope.

Detailed itinerary

Often considered to be one of the most scenic stretches of landscape in the world, the Cape Peninsula is among Africa's premier tourism destinations. A narrow, 75-km long strip land rises abruptly from the ocean, separating the nutrient-rich Benguela current of the cold Atlantic ocean from the warmer waters of False Bay. The botanically-rich Peninsula landscape is dominated by a rugged mountain chain, culminating at its northern end in the famously geometrical massif of Table Mountain.

For birders, the Cape Peninsula provides easy access to a good selection of coastal and fynbos specials, with most day-trips recording upward of 90 species. Highlights of this day-tour usually include Cape Sugarbird, Orange-breasted Sunbird, African Penguin and Bank Cormorant. There is also the opportunity to see localized, endemic forest birds such as Knysna Warbler.

We start early at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, widely recognized as one of the world’s finest botanical gardens. The well-maintained gardens and adjacent fynbos and indigenous forest support an attractive diversity of bird species. Here, it is possible to approach a number of fynbos endemics at close quarters, including such desirable species as Cape Sugarbird, Orange-breasted Sunbird and Cape Francolin. The sheltered forested gorges host several forest species, including Cape Batis, Forest Canary and the skulking, enigmatic and highly localised Knysna Warbler which we may look for in a nearby forest patch.

From here, we work southwards along the peninsula, visiting a number of coastal localities, in search of Benguela Current endemics, all of which, except for Damara Tern, are distinct possibilities. Cape and Hartlaub's Gull are widespread around the Cape Peninsula, and may be seen en route to our first stop, Kommetjie. Here, a full sweep of marine cormorants can usually be seen, including Cape, Bank and Crowned Cormorant. Cape Gannet hunts off-shore, while African Black Oystercatcher forage on the shoreline. We make our way southwards to Cape Point, crossing over to Simonstown, famous for being the most accessible site for African Penguin. Approximately 1100 pairs breed here. We wrap up with a visit to Strandfontein Waste Water Treatment Works, with a vast array of waterbirds. Highlights may include Black-necked Grebe, Maccoa Duck, Southern Pochard, Cape Teal, Cape Shoveller, South African Shelduck, Levaillant’s Cisticola, White Pelican, Greater Flamingo and Cape Bulbul.

If time allows we can include a visit to the scenic Cape of Good Hope. Here, coastal thicket adjacent to the parking area supports Fiscal Flycatcher, Cape Bulbul, Southern Boubou and Speckled Mousebird. Ostrich, and Bontebok (Damaliscus dorcas dorcas) - a once critically endangered antelope endemic to the Cape - graze in the open near the parking area. Flowering patches here and elsewhere in the reserve attract large numbers of nectarivorous species, such as Cape Sugarbird, Orange-breasted Sunbird, Malachite Sunbird and Southern Double-collared Sunbird. Rocky places in the reserve are worth searching for the likes of Ground Woodpecker, Jackal Buzzard, Cape Rock Thrush, Cape Siskin and Familiar Chat.

See Cape Sugarbird on a Birding Africa Trip © Callan Cohen
See Knysna Warbler on a Birding Africa Trip © Mike Buckham

See Ground Woodpecker on a Birding Africa Day Trip © Cohen.
African Penguin on a Birding Africa Trip © Deirdre Vrancken
African Penguin on a Birding Africa Trip © Deirdre Vrancken
African Penguin on a Birding Africa Trip © Deirdre Vrancken