Double Take

Double-banded Coursers

Raising Lazarus

On a mission to conserve Madagascar’s rarest birds

Fetch & Carry

In early January I paid my first visit to the Addo Elephant National Park, near Port Elizabeth.

Crushing Defeat

Yellow-bellied Greenbul’s untimely end

Elevating Gamebirds

New francolin and spurfowl taxonomy

Cliff Hangers

Birds of the Augrabies Gorge

Brotherly Love

People and other great apes are known for their willingness to help others in need, even strangers. Now researchers have shown for the first time that some birds – and specifically Grey Parrots – are similarly helpful.

Message In A Bottle

Regular readers of African Birdlife will know that I am a fan of sub-Antarctic islands and that I work on plastic pollution.

Quick fix - Sapphire Coast Birding Route

Coastal forest, grasslands, estuaries, beaches and lush winding hills all promise rich pickings for birders to explore and find the birds that occupy these varied habitats.

8 Of The Best Top Birding Sites In Uganda

Best known to wildlife enthusiasts for its mountain gorillas, Uganda also ranks among Africa’s most biodiverse countries, thanks to an equatorial location at the transition of the eastern savanna, western rainforest, and northern semi-deserts.

Dying For A Drink?

Kgalagadi battlefields

Puffed daddy

The stately Kori Bustard Ardeotis kori is one of the most recognisable inhabitants of Africa’s savannas and deserts.

Kite flying

Black-winged Kite’s breeding cycle

Reviews Canon EOS 90D

Canon’s new EOS 90D is a DSLR camera equipped with an APS-C sensor (crop sensor) and an impressive array of features.

THE MORE THINGS change...

The Aldabra White-throated Rail Dryolimnas [cuvieri] aldabranus is the only flightless bird that still survives in the Indian Ocean.

Mix & Match

Hybrid Orange-breasted x Southern Double-collared Sunbird

Under Cover

First Ayres’s Hawk Eagle breeding record for South Africa

Sightings In The Subregion

Mid-July to mid-September 2019 Late winter and early spring were memorable for one main reason: a new species for the southern African subregion. There were a few other good records, but they paled in comparison…

Roller Coaster Ride

European Rollers – like so many other species – face a multitude of challenges on migration

Life Cycles

Verreaux’s Eagles at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden

Highland Highlights - Ngorongoro, Tanzania

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) in Tanzania is a protected area and a World Heritage Site, with the crater its most famous landmark and attraction.

Get Ticking

Checklist of Birds in South Africa 2020

Above & Beyond

Overachievers in the bird world

10 Years Of The Hot Birds Project

In mid-2009, the late Phil Hockey – then director of the Fitztitute – and Andrew McKechnie of the University of Pretoria (UP) spent two days in Phil’s office developing a research programme focusing on desert birds and climate change.

Rwanda Revival

Akagera & Nyungwe national parks.

Six Of The Best

Spring birding destinations in and around Gauteng.

Rinse & Repeat

Goliath Heron fishing behaviour.

Benguela Blues

Why are southern Africa’s iconic coastal birds facing extinction?

Keep Watching...

IT IS SAID that more than 11 trillion images are taken every year.

Focus Close To Home

We’ve all been there. You check your social media accounts and scroll through the birdwatching groups, see remarkable photographs of birds and wonder if you could ever take something similar; you review your recent images from the local nature reserve and ponder how other photographers manage to get the birds to sit still and pose like supermodels; you admire the lighting showing the bird’s colors to best advantage.