Saddle-billed Stork

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Saddle-billed Stork at stays in or beside Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Ndumo Game Reserve. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Saddle-billed Stork is most recorded in Mpumalanga (55% of records), Limpopo (33% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (11% of records), based on 1,654 iNaturalist observations. 6 places to stay on Spekboom in KwaZulu-Natal have recorded the Saddle-billed Stork on site or nearby.

The Saddle-billed Stork is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park: year-round, dry season May-Sep; iSimangaliso Wetland Park: year-round, dry season May-Sep; Ndumo Game Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis) is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

The saddle-billed stork, or saddlebill (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis) is a large wading bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. It is a widespread species which is a resident breeder in sub-Saharan Africa from Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya south to South Africa, and in The Gambia, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Chad in west Africa. Considered Endangered in South Africa.