Birding Big Day 2025: Wilderness Botswana celebrates birds, conservation, and teamwork

For our first Birding Big Day in some time, the numbers speak for themselves:

•    83 participants (28 guides and 55 staff)
•    18 teams competing across Wilderness concessions
•    2,350 birds logged – an incredible collective achievement

Every sighting contributed to a greater cause, helping build a clearer picture of birdlife across our concessions, and reminding us just how rich and rewarding birding can be.

The team category was fiercely contested, with all 18 teams going head-to-head in high spirits. An honourable mention goes to Linyanti Tented Camp, who fielded an impressive five teams (with their counts in brackets):

•    Linyanti Eagles (101 species)
•    Hornbills (83)
•    Pigeons (76)
•    Doves (73)
•    Coucals (12)

Several teams delivered strong performances on the day, including:

•    Bird Skimmers (Santamoti) – 118 species
•    Mighty Martials (Mombo) – 110 
•    Soaring Eagles (Savuti) – 104 
•    The Islanders (Little Vumbura) – 93 

Top 3 teams

•    3rd Place: DMT Bird Lovers (DumaTau) – 122 species
•    2nd Place: Matebele Ants (Chitabe) – 144 species
•    1st Place & Birding Big Day Team Champions 2025: The Slaty Egrets (Vumbura Plains South) – an exceptional 152 species

Congratulations to Kabo, Charity, Phil and KT for an outstanding effort!

Creating a fair guide category is never simple, especially when factoring in differing guest schedules and shared team efforts. This year, we focused on guides who were with guests for both morning and afternoon sessions, while also recognising exceptional commitment wherever it was shown.

Honourable Mentions:

•    Tsholo (DumaTau) – 92
•    Tom (DumaTau) – 85
•    Taps (Vumbura Plains North) – 75
•    Brian (Vumbura Plains South) – 73
•    Ollie (Mombo) – 73 species (Mombo Concession Champion)

Both MP (DumaTau) and Chris (Vumbura Plains South) had guests for only part of the day, but continued birding with teams or on their own – a true reflection of passion beyond the competition.

For that reason, MP (122 species) is crowned Linyanti Champion for BBD 2025, and Chris Kems with 133 species earns the title King of the Kwedi (the private concession where Vumbura Plains is situated). 

And finally, the moment everyone was waiting for. Guiding with guests in both the morning and afternoon, and still managing to log 122 different bird species, the overall Birding Big Day Champion 2025 is: Elvis Ken of Savuti!

Congratulations, Elvis – an exceptional achievement and a well-deserved title.

In the spirit of rewarding enthusiasm and engagement, the Bird Skimmers of Santamoti receive special recognition for their infectious energy and commitment, sharing photos and stories throughout the day. Well done Tyson and team – your love for birding truly stood out.

Additionally, every participant was entered into a random draw, resulting in not one, but two lucky winners: Sasha (Savuti) and Joanah (DumaTau). Congratulations to you both, and thank you for being part of the day.

Birding Big Day 2025 also provided valuable learnings around training, communication, prize categories, and how best to recognise both effort and results. These insights will be incorporated into next year’s Birding Big Day 2026, making it even better.

A huge thank you goes to Bindo Birding for the app platform, and to Okavango Beer, My Digital Earth, Vortex Binoculars, Sealand and Wilderness for the fantastic prizes that added to the excitement.

Until next year, keep birding and continue logging your sightings on Bindo – there may be spot events along the way that you don’t want to miss.