Where to see the Horus Swift in South Africa

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Horus Swift at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Kwandwe Private Game Reserve, De Hoop Nature Reserve, iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Marloth Nature 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 Horus Swift is most recorded in KwaZulu-Natal (23% of records), Western Cape (19% of records), Gauteng (17% of records), based on 53 iNaturalist observations. 28 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Horus Swift on site or nearby.

The Horus Swift 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. Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Kwandwe Private Game Reserve: year-round, best Mar-May, Sep-Nov; De Hoop Nature Reserve: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct; iSimangaliso Wetland Park: year-round, dry season May-Sep. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The Horus swift (Apus horus) is a small bird in the swift family. It breeds in sub-Saharan Africa. It has an extensive continuous distribution from eastern and southern South Africa north to southern Zambia and central Mozambique, and has recently colonised the De Hoop Nature Reserve area of the Western Cape.