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Where to see

Where to see the Marico Sunbird in South Africa

Hosts have recorded the Marico Sunbird at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and Timbavati Private Nature Reserve.

Cinnyris mariquensis

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Marico Sunbird
Photo: (c) Dr. Thomas Dörner, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

Planning a trip

When and where to find the Marico Sunbird

Hosts have recorded the Marico Sunbird at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and Timbavati Private Nature Reserve.

Best hours of the day

  • The first hours after sunrise, and late afternoon. Birds call and feed most in the cool.
  • Midday. Quieter, especially in summer heat.

Where to base yourself

  • Limpopo

    Limpopo

    Kruger · Timbavati

    Self-driveGuided drives
    Stays in Limpopo
    Limpopo
  • Northern Cape

    Northern Cape

    Kgalagadi

    Self-driveMalaria-free
    Stays in Northern Cape
    Northern Cape
  • KwaZulu-Natal

    KwaZulu-Natal

    Hluhluwe-Imfolozi · iSimangaliso Wetland

    Stays in KwaZulu-Natal
    KwaZulu-Natal

Ways to look

Drive yourself

Your own vehicle and pace, on the park's roads.

Where hosts record it

KrugerKgalagadi

Guided drives from a lodge

A guide who knows where to look, with off-road and night drives in the private reserves.

Where hosts record it

Timbavati

Species

Cinnyris mariquensis

Records

569

iNaturalist observations

Every booking on Spekboom supports conservation.

Questions travellers ask

A record means a host has seen the Marico Sunbird on the property or nearby. It is never a guarantee of a sighting.

Which parks and reserves are best for the Marico Sunbird in South Africa?

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Marico Sunbird at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Madikwe 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.

Where can you see the Marico Sunbird in South Africa?

The Marico Sunbird is most recorded in Limpopo (45% of records), Mpumalanga (32% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (11% of records), based on 569 iNaturalist observations. 23 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Marico Sunbird on site or nearby.

When is the best time to see the Marico Sunbird?

The Marico Sunbird 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; Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park: Aug-Oct, flowers, Mar-May; Timbavati Private Nature Reserve: May-Sep, dry season; Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park: year-round, dry season May-Sep. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

What is the Marico Sunbird?

The Marico sunbird or Mariqua sunbird (Cinnyris mariquensis) is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Stays that give back

Where to stay for a chance to see the Marico Sunbird

Every stay on the Marico Sunbird page lists the species its host has recorded on or near the property. A record is a sighting, never a promise.

See where to stay