Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

National Park · Botswana

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Photo © Diego Delso

Photo © Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 — Source: Wikimedia Commons

Where salt-crusted flatlands stretch endlessly toward a shimmering horizon, one of Africa's most extraordinary ecosystems awakens with the rains. The Makgadikgadi Pans comprise vast mineral-rich basins that transform seasonally from desiccated salt flats into shallow lagoons teeming with life. This dramatic landscape, studded with islands of acacia woodland and grassland, creates a mosaic of habitats that sustains an astonishing concentration of wildlife despite its apparent bleakness. The pans themselves—remnants of an ancient mega-lake—support specialized flora and fauna uniquely adapted to extreme salinity and periodic inundation.

Photographers and birders converge here during the rainy season when the pans fill and nomadic species arrive in staggering numbers. Zebra herds numbering in the thousands migrate across the salt flats in ethereal lines, while flamingos paint the shallow waters pink in dawn light that photographers dream about. The dry season offers equally compelling drama: predators concentrate around remaining waterholes, creating intense wildlife encounters. Accessibility via nearby Nata makes this remote wilderness remarkably achievable, while the park's minimal infrastructure preserves the profound sense of isolation that makes the experience transformative.

Website mewt.gov.bw/DWNP/article.php?id_mnu=196

Sagittarius serpentarius

African Fish Eagle

Icthyophaga vocifer

White-backed Vulture

Struthio camelus

Yellow-billed Stork

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

Tockus leucomelas

Red-billed Spurfowl

Pternistis adspersus

Lilac-breasted Roller

Coracias caudatus

Alopochen aegyptiaca

Blacksmith Lapwing

Vanellus armatus

Lappet-faced Vulture

Torgos tracheliotos

African Spoonbill

Southern Red-billed Hornbill

Tockus rufirostris

Ring-necked Dove

Streptopelia capicola

Black-winged Stilt

Himantopus himantopus

Leptoptilos crumenifer

Pale Chanting Goshawk

Melierax canorus

Crimson-breasted Shrike

Laniarius atrococcineus

Burchell's Starling

Lamprotornis australis

Burchell's Sandgrouse

Pterocles burchelli

Urolestes melanoleucus

Southern Pied Babbler

Turdoides bicolor

Spilopelia senegalensis

Golden-tailed Woodpecker

Campethera abingoni

Lamprotornis nitens

White-faced Whistling Duck

Dendrocygna viduata

Kittlitz's Plover

Anarhynchus pecuarius

Polemaetus bellicosus

Micronisus gabar

African Barred Owlet

Glaucidium capense

Grey-backed Sparrow-Lark

Eremopterix verticalis

Southern Masked Weaver

Ploceus velatus

Red-billed Quelea

Centropus senegalensis

Grey Crowned Crane

Balearica regulorum

Black-necked Grebe

Podiceps nigricollis

Actophilornis africanus

Pink-backed Pelican

Pelecanus rufescens

Southern White-faced Owl

Ptilopsis granti

Red-backed Shrike

Lanius collurio

Corvus capensis

Burnt-necked Eremomela

Eremomela usticollis

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow

Passer diffusus

Shaft-tailed Whydah

Crowned Lapwing

Vanellus coronatus

Scaly-feathered Weaver

Sporopipes squamifrons

African Grey Hornbill

Lophoceros nasutus

White-browed Sparrow-Weaver

Plocepasser mahali

Black-chested Prinia

Prinia flavicans

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

Turtur chalcospilos

Streptopelia semitorquata

African Palm Swift

Cypsiurus parvus

Red-crested Korhaan

Lophotis ruficrista

Terathopius ecaudatus

Green-backed Camaroptera

Camaroptera brachyura

Anthus cinnamomeus

Southern White-crowned Shrike

Eurocephalus anguitimens

African Red-eyed Bulbul

Pycnonotus nigricans

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

Merops hirundineus

Red-capped Lark

Calandrella cinerea

Capped Wheatear

Oenanthe pileata

Black-chested Snake Eagle

Circaetus pectoralis

Violet-eared Waxbill

Granatina granatina

Uraeginthus angolensis

Saddle-billed Stork

Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis

African Sacred Ibis

Threskiornis aethiopicus

Brown-crowned Tchagra

Tchagra australis

Northern Black Korhaan

Afrotis afraoides

Meves's Starling

Lamprotornis mevesii

Common Sandpiper

Actitis hypoleucos

Tringa glareola

Common Greenshank

Tringa nebularia

Black-winged Pratincole

Glareola nordmanni

Plegadis falcinellus

Ardeola ralloides

Calidris pugnax

Calidris minuta

Greater Kestrel

Falco rupicoloides

Groundscraper Thrush

Turdus litsitsirupa

Ant-eating Chat

Myrmecocichla formicivora

Red-billed Firefinch

Lagonosticta senegala

Marico Flycatcher

Bradornis mariquensis

Blue-billed Teal

Spatula hottentota

Red-billed Teal

Anas erythrorhyncha

Common Ringed Plover

Charadrius hiaticula

African Woolly-necked Stork

Ciconia microscelis

Bostrychia hagedash

Great White Pelican

Pelecanus onocrotalus

Bradfield's Hornbill

Lophoceros bradfieldi

Coracias naevius

Lesser Grey Shrike

Barred Wren-Warbler

Calamonastes fasciolatus

Wattled Starling

Creatophora cinerea

Spotted Flycatcher

Muscicapa striata

Black-faced Waxbill

Brunhilda erythronotos

Western Barn Owl

Fulvous Whistling Duck

Dendrocygna bicolor

Knob-billed Duck

Sarkidiornis melanotos

African Pygmy Goose

Nettapus auritus

Southern Pochard

Netta erythrophthalma

Orange River Francolin

Scleroptila gutturalis

Coturnix coturnix

Swainson's Spurfowl

Pternistis swainsonii

Fiery-necked Nightjar

Caprimulgus pectoralis

African Black Swift

Black-bellied Bustard

Lissotis melanogaster

Coppery-tailed Coucal

Centropus cupreicaudus

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Clamator glandarius

Clamator jacobinus

Diederik Cuckoo

Chrysococcyx caprius

Namaqua Sandgrouse

Pterocles namaqua

Yellow-throated Sandgrouse

Pterocles gutturalis

Speckled Pigeon

Mourning Collared Dove

Streptopelia decipiens

African Green Pigeon

Crecopsis egregia

Red-knobbed Coot

Fulica cristata

Tachybaptus ruficollis

Greater Flamingo

Phoenicopterus roseus

Lesser Flamingo

Phoeniconaias minor

Common Buttonquail

Turnix sylvaticus

Spotted Thick-knee

Burhinus capensis

Recurvirostra avosetta

Long-toed Lapwing

Vanellus crassirostris

Greater Painted-snipe

Rostratula benghalensis

Marsh Sandpiper

Tringa stagnatilis

Curlew Sandpiper

Calidris ferruginea

Bronze-winged Courser

Rhinoptilus chalcopterus

Temminck's Courser

Cursorius temminckii

Collared Pratincole

Glareola pratincola

African Skimmer

Rynchops flavirostris

Chlidonias hybrida

White-winged Tern

Chlidonias leucopterus

Grey-headed Gull

Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus

Ciconia abdimii

Ciconia ciconia

Microcarbo africanus

Great Cormorant

Phalacrocorax carbo

Egretta ardesiaca

Egretta garzetta

Yellow-billed Egret

Ardea brachyrhyncha

Black-headed Heron

Ardea melanocephala

Black-winged Kite

Elanus caeruleus

African Harrier-Hawk

Polyboroides typus

White-headed Vulture

Trigonoceps occipitalis

Necrosyrtes monachus

Gyps coprotheres

Brown Snake Eagle

Circaetus cinereus

Wahlberg's Eagle

Hieraaetus wahlbergi

Aquila nipalensis

African Hawk-Eagle

Aquila spilogaster

Dark Chanting Goshawk

Melierax metabates

Ovambo Sparrowhawk

Accipiter ovampensis

Circus macrourus

Montagu's Harrier

Circus pygargus

African Marsh Harrier

Circus ranivorus

African Scops Owl

Otus senegalensis

Spotted Eagle-Owl

Verreaux's Eagle-Owl

Red-faced Mousebird

Urocolius indicus

Green Wood Hoopoe

Phoeniculus purpureus

Common Scimitarbill

Rhinopomastus cyanomelas

Southern Ground Hornbill

Bucorvus leadbeateri

European Roller

Coracias garrulus

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Halcyon leucocephala

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

Halcyon albiventris

Striped Kingfisher

Halcyon chelicuti

Malachite Kingfisher

Corythornis cristatus

Giant Kingfisher

Megaceryle maxima

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Merops persicus

European Bee-eater

Merops apiaster

Southern Carmine Bee-eater

Merops nubicoides

Trachyphonus vaillantii

Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird

Pogoniulus chrysoconus

Bearded Woodpecker

Chloropicus namaquus

Cardinal Woodpecker

Dendropicos fuscescens

Falco rupicolus

Red-necked Falcon

Falco chicquera

Falco amurensis

Falco biarmicus

Orange-breasted Bushshrike

Chlorophoneus sulfureopectus

Black-crowned Tchagra

Tchagra senegalus

Black-backed Puffback

Dryoscopus cubla

Tropical Boubou

Laniarius major

Laniarius bicolor

White-crested Helmetshrike

Prionops plumatus

Retz's Helmetshrike

Prionops retzii

African Golden Oriole

Oriolus auratus

African Paradise Flycatcher

Terpsiphone viridis

Southern Fiscal

Lanius collaris

Southern Black Tit

Melaniparus niger

Melaniparus cinerascens

Cape Penduline Tit

Anthoscopus minutus

Pinarocorys nigricans

Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark

Eremopterix leucotis

Calendulauda sabota

Monotonous Lark

Mirafra passerina

Pink-billed Lark

Spizocorys conirostris

Yellow-bellied Greenbul

Chlorocichla flaviventris

Terrestrial Brownbul

Phyllastrephus terrestris

Pycnonotus barbatus

Neophedina cincta

Hirundo rustica

Lesser Striped Swallow

Cecropis abyssinica

Phylloscopus trochilus

Icterine Warbler

Hippolais icterina

Tinkling Cisticola

Cisticola rufilatus

Cisticola fulvicapilla

Zitting Cisticola

Cisticola juncidis

Desert Cisticola

Cisticola aridulus

Tawny-flanked Prinia

Prinia subflava

Yellow-breasted Apalis

Yellow-bellied Eremomela

Eremomela icteropygialis

Chestnut-vented Warbler

Curruca subcoerulea

Arrow-marked Babbler

Turdoides jardineii

Greater Blue-eared Starling

Lamprotornis chalybaeus

Violet-backed Starling

Cinnyricinclus leucogaster

Yellow-billed Oxpecker

Buphagus africanus

Kalahari Scrub Robin

Cercotrichas paena

Chat Flycatcher

Agricola infuscatus

White-browed Robin-Chat

Cossypha heuglini

African Stonechat

Saxicola torquatus

Myrmecocichla arnotti

Oenanthe familiaris

Scarlet-chested Sunbird

Chalcomitra senegalensis

Cinnyris mariquensis

White-bellied Sunbird

Cinnyris talatala

Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow

Gymnoris superciliaris

Passer melanurus

Passer motitensis

Passer domesticus

Lesser Masked Weaver

Ploceus intermedius

Red-headed Weaver

Anaplectes rubriceps

Estrilda astrild

Ortygospiza atricollis

Red-headed Finch

Amadina erythrocephala

Green-winged Pytilia

Jameson's Firefinch

Lagonosticta rhodopareia

Village Indigobird

Vidua chalybeata

Pin-tailed Whydah

Long-tailed Paradise Whydah

Vidua paradisaea

African Pied Wagtail

Motacilla aguimp

Anthus vaalensis

Plain-backed Pipit

Anthus leucophrys

Yellow-fronted Canary

Crithagra mozambica

Crithagra flaviventris

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

Emberiza tahapisi

Golden-breasted Bunting

Emberiza flaviventris

Butorides striata

Northern Red-billed Hornbill

Tockus erythrorhynchus

Dickinson's Kestrel

Falco dickinsoni

Lesser Swamp Warbler

Acrocephalus gracilirostris

Holub's Golden Weaver

Ploceus xanthops

Cut-throat Finch

Amadina fasciata

Panthera pardus

Common Hippopotamus

Hippopotamus amphibius

Southern Giraffe

Giraffa giraffa

African Savanna Elephant

Loxodonta africana

Blue Wildebeest

Connochaetes taurinus

Tragelaphus strepsiceros

Raphicerus campestris

Chlorocebus pygerythrus

Aepyceros melampus

Black-backed Jackal

Lupulella mesomelas

Suricata suricatta

South African Ground Squirrel

Geosciurus inauris

Common Slender Mongoose

Herpestes sanguineus

Yellow Mongoose

Cynictis penicillata

Namaqua Rock Rat

Micaelamys namaquensis

Crocuta crocuta

Otocyon megalotis

Antidorcas marsupialis

Alcelaphus buselaphus

Southern African Springhare

Pedetes capensis

African Wildcat

Parahyaena brunnea

Phacochoerus africanus

Acinonyx jubatus

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