The majority of people view Gauteng as the financial capital of South Africa and not worth anything more than a quick visit on their way to some of South Africa's more well known destinations. Despite the province being one of the smaller and more densely populated provinces few people realize that Gauteng is one of South Africa's premier birding areas. . There are approximately 400 species in the region including 60 southern African endemics. Gauteng has the largest number of birders as well as contributors to the South African Bird Atlas Projects and their birders regularly win the annual Birding Big Day competition. The popularity of birding in Gauteng has recently seen the launch of a book dedicated to birding in the province.

The wider Gauteng birding region is situated at between 1000 and 1800m above sea level. Gauteng has a range of different biomes all within comfortable driving distance (1.5 hrs from the city centres) which enable one to pick up in excess of 200 species in a mornings birding. The once extensive grassland biome has been transformed but there are still a number of good patches including Suikerbosrand which is in the Southern parts of the province. During the summer this area teems with birds and one can pick up specials such as Orange River Francolin, African Grass Owl and Tinkling Cisticola not to mention a number of Highveld species.

Moving away from grasslands one will encounter numerous wetlands offering a diverse range of water birds as well as specials such as Greater Painted Snipe, Baillon's crake, Red chested Flufftail, and Greater Flamingo. Rarities that have pitched up in Gauteng include Slaty Egret, Spotted Crake, Western Marsh harrier and South Africa's first record of an Asiatic Dowitcher.

Within the cities there are a number of botanical gardens as well as nature reserves that offer extremely good birding opportunities. Acacia thornveld in northern Gauteng and the adjacent Limpopo and North West provinces offer the highest diversity of bird species and a trip to site such as Zaagkuildrift, Borakalalo and Vaalkop Dam can produce over 150 species in a day.

The bustling province of Gauteng incorporates South Africa's political and commercial capital cities namely Pretoria and Johannesburg which are world class cities. There is a wide range of accommodation, fantastic restaurants and world class birding. Gauteng also has a number of well experienced bird tour operators who provide a fantastic service to visiting birders. This coupled with an extensive infrastructure and accommodation system provides the visiting birder with an ideal birding destination as well as a platform for a birding holiday.