Frank Willems

Frank Willems originates from the Netherlands where he was birding and catching amphibians and other creatures from the moment he could walk.  He worked with the Dutch ornithology trust Sovon after obtaining his Masters in Ecology, before moving to Zambia in 2008.  

Frank was part of the management of Kasanka and Lavushi Manda National Parks as well as Shoebill Island Camp for eight years and then managed Mutinondo Wilderness for another two years with his wife Inge.

They started their own company in 2018, initially focusing on a mix of conservation research, consultancies and guiding film crews and natural history tours before focusing more on bird guiding.

Frank has written tens of scientific papers and books, and many more popular articles and reports about birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.  These included the description of the Mutinondo Grass Frog, while several other new species descriptions are in the pipeline.

He is co-author of the Birds of Zambia app and is the Technical Advisor to Zambia’s BirdLife partner, BirdWatch Zambia, is country rep for the African Bird Club and chairs the Zambian Bird Data Committee.

Frank is still involved with numerous conservation and scientific projects, such as on Zambia’s populations of endangered vultures and on the unique biodiversity of Zambia’s northwestern corner.  Past projects have included work on Shoebill and the Kasanka colony of Straw-coloured Fruit Bats.

Having extensively explored every corner of Zambia, Frank is widely considered Zambia’s leading birder, although personally considers himself an ecologist and conservationist just as much as a birder.

Frank and Inge now live in Chisamba, together with their daughter Robin, looking after their little private reserve hosting some 300 species of birds including a large vulture roost.