Despite fire being regarded as an important process for driving and maintaining ecological diversity, its influence on animal communities is poorly understood. This study investigates medium-term consequences of a savanna fire on bird communities in the Kruger National Park, by comparing mild/cool and severe/hot sections of a burn, and control (unburned) sites. The number of species recorded did not differ significantly between treatments, although mild sites, when matched with control sites, had a marginally higher species count. Mild fires may increase the diversity of habitats available to birds. Differences in bird community composition by dietary group were minor, with some best explained by pre-fire habitat differences. However, some differences were linked to habitat change as a result of fire. Granivores and ground-feeding species that prefer cover were less common on severe burns, where grass cover was most reduced. However, no species were entirely absent. In savannas, fire has a short return time and post-fire habitats recover rapidly compared to other fire-prone ecosystems; not even severe fires appear to disturb bird communities significantly. They are likely to be robust to all but the most extreme fire policies, which suppress fire completely or alter habitat structure. Ahands-off fire policy is unlikely to affect bird communities negatively. Keywords: birds, communities, ecology, fire, savannas.