Samara has discovered that we have over 220 species of birds occurring on the property, amongst them South Africa's national bird, the endangered Blue Crane which we see in flocks of up 200 in our winter months.  Samara is also home to breeding pairs of Black Eagles and on game drives down south, you are likely to see Kori Bustard, Secretary Birds and a host of other raptors.  In the riverine areas, Brown Hooded Kingfishers are relatively common.

We’ve seen about 8 different breeding pairs of the African Hoep-Hoep and that acknowledge the fact that Samara is a low disturbing environment as the Hoep-Hoep numbers will decrease if they feel disturbed. Your African Hoep-Hoep chicks will release a very bad smelling liquid dung when picked up to repel predators.

A soaring black stork – One of the rare and only stork species that will build their nests on mountain cliffs.

African Black Duck – a Very rare duck specie and it is remarkable to see them. They will only land and swim in moving rivers and they have white spots on their wings so they can blend in with sun reflections on a running river.

This is a good indicator that Samara is moving in the right direction with conservation as these birds would not have been here if they were disturbed.

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