I’m frequently asked if I really see as much wildlife on safari as my pictures show. The surprising answer is, you’ll see more than I have pictures of! Although I have to warn people that it’s not like the Discovery Channel (although I did see a cheetah hunt on my March 2012 safari), it’s true that there is more wildlife than you can shake a camera stick at. There are supposedly 500+ species of birds in the Serengeti alone. I kept a species list from my November 2012 safari and thought I’d publish that here for people to see the variety and breadth they may see on one of my safaris:
Mammals:
- Lion
- Leopard
- Cheetah
- Black Rhino
- Elephant
- Hippo
- Zebra
- Wildebeest
- Giraffe
- Cape Buffalo
- Eland
- Coke’s Hartebeest
- Waterbuck
- Topi
- Bohor Reedbuck
- Spotted Hyena
- Baboon
- Vervet Monkey
- Blue monkey
- Impala
- Lesser Kudu
- Thomson’s Gazelle
- Grant’s Gazelle
- Klipspringer
- Warthog
- Golden Jackal
- Black-backed Jackal
- Side-striped jackal
- Slender Mongoose
- Banded mongoose
- Bush Hyrax
- Rock Hyrax
- Dik Dik
Birds:
- Gray Crowned Crane
- Lilac Breasted Roller
- European Roller
- Rufous-crowned Roller (aka Purple Roller)
- Kori Bustard
- White-bellied Bustard
- African Grey Hornbill
- Ostrich
- Tawny Eagle
- Bateleur Eagle
- African Fish Eagle
- Long-crested Eagle
- Martial Eagle (adolescent)
- Black-chested Snake-Eagle
- Superb Starling
- Pygmy Falcon
- Greater Flamingo
- Lesser Flamingo
- Lesser Masked Weaver
- Grey Heron
- African Jacana
- African Hoopoe
- Sacred Ibis
- Ruff
- Saddle-billed Stork
- Yellow-billed Stork
- Marabou Stork
- Hooded Vulture
- White-backed Vulture
- Lappet-faced Vulture
- Verraux’s Eagle Owl
- Pearl-spotted Owlet
- Hamerkop
- Secretary Bird
- Guinea fowl
- Buffalo weaver
- Cattle Egret
- Egyptian Goose
- Yellow-necked Spurfowl/Francolin
- Red-necked Spurfowl
- Little Bee-eater
- African Golden Oriole
- Southern Ground-hornbill
- Oxpecker
- Goshawk (TBD species)
- Lovebird (TBD species)
- Go-away bird (TBD species)
- Cuckoo (TBD species)
- Barbet (TBD species)
- Woodpecker (TBD species)
- Widowbird (TBD species)
- Magpie (TBD species)
Reptiles:
- Nile Crocodile
- Common, red-headed Agama Lizard
- Leopard Tortoise
About Dave Burns
Dave Burns is a wildlife, travel, and landscape photographer whose passions range from the beauty of the African savanna to the streets of Paris. He created Dave Burns Photo Tours to share his favorite places with other photographers, help them capture unique images, and learn more about photography and digital work flow. His next trip is an African photo safari to the Serengeti in February 2021. Dave’s images are in private collections and galleries. To contact him, use the contact page on this site.