The Free State consists of mainly high altitudinal grasslands, with the Drakensberg Mountains to the East, the Maluti Mountains to the South and the drier Karoo and Kalahari habitats to the South West and North West respectively. The large rivers of the Orange and Vaal provide much needed water, and their riparain habitats are able to support birds that would not otherwise occur in the mainly arid parts of the province. Here is my Top 10 species for the province.
1.) Orange River White-Eye
2.) African Rock Pipit
3.) African Red-eyed Bulbul
4.) Orange River Francolin
5.) Short-toed Rock Thrush
6.) Cloud Cisticola
7.) Short-tailed Pipit
8.) Southern Bald Ibis
9.) South African Cliff Swallow
10.) Eastern Clapper Lark
A big thank you to EJ Bartlett for letting us use his photo of an African Red-eyed Bulbul
So what would your top 10 list be for this province? Send us your list in the comments section below.
An interesting page that list the species in the Free State
https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/checklist.jsp?region=ZAfs&list=howardmoore