eBird Global Big Day 2021 on Matetsi Private Game Reserve

8 May 2021 marked the eBird Global Big Day 2021, a worldwide annual celebration of the birds around us. This year there were over fifty thousand participants across the globe and over seven thousand species identified in the single day!

This year on the Global Bid Day, our guiding team were joined by Professional Guide and birding enthusiast, James Varden, who also runs our guide training program.

They started at dawn in order to make the most of the day, to cover as many of the different habitats within the 136,000 acres Matetsi Private Game Reserve and to identify as may species as possible within the 24-hour period.

By day end, our team made it to 130 species, which was the highest count in Zimbabwe! A really great effort from the team, and a count that greatly exceed that of our 2020 Global Big Day.

The full list for 2021 (below) gives an idea of the huge variety of bird species that call Matetsi Private Game Reserve home.

“We didn’t get any of the Zambezi specials but the Rosy-throated Longclaw is an excellent record.” – James Varden, Professional Guide & birding enthusiast

Days like this give our guiding team an opportunity to learn even more about bird identification and how important it is to be 100% accurate, as the sightings are recorded and logged in research databases.

You can find the global breakdown of species and participation on the eBird website, here. The Matetsi Victoria Falls list, logged by James Varden, is on the eBird website, here.

Thanks to James Varden for sharing photos, updates and the complete list from the Global Big Day. And many thanks as always to the extended Matetsi family, including Daniel Hargrove, for sharing their bird photos with us that we have included in this write up.

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James Varden / Ride Zimbabwe

Matetsi Victoria Falls