Animals-and-Pets
African Birdlife
Taking The Long View
Long focal lengths when photographing birds
5 min |
July - August 2020
African Birdlife
Lessons In Lockdown Covid-19 – A Boon For Birds?
As Covid-19 lockdowns swept the world, there were numerous reports of how wildlife adapted to the new normal. Some of the more outrageous stories turned out to be as fake as a Trump White House briefing, but it was clear that with far fewer people and cars out and about, normally shy wildlife was quick to take advantage of the situation. Peter Ryan canvassed birders to try to piece together how birds responded to the unprecedented reduction in human activity.
8 min |
July - August 2020
African Birdlife
no entry
Southern Ground-Hornbills thwarted by a terrapin shell
3 min |
July - August 2020
African Birdlife
cavity combat
For four months we closely monitored the nest site of a pair of Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills near Brits in the North West Province.
1 min |
July - August 2020
African Birdlife
HOT flushes
How Southern Ground-Hornbills keep their cool
4 min |
July - August 2020
African Birdlife
all good things...
The Peninsula’s Peregrines
9 min |
July - August 2020
African Birdlife
Sounding The Alarm
How to find Wood Owls...
5 min |
May - June 2020
African Birdlife
Chilling In The Desert?
Pygmy Falcons Polihierax semi-torquatus are among the world’s smallest raptors.
2 min |
May - June 2020
African Birdlife
Spot The Difference
Distinguishing Mountain and African pipits in the field Mountain and non-breeding African pipits are frustratingly difficult to separate in the field when they occur in the same area. This happens from autumn to early spring, about six to seven months of the year. During this time the lower mandible of both species, a key identification feature, is fairly similar and differentiating the species becomes very tricky.
1 min |
May - June 2020
African Birdlife
Shrinking Returns
Long-term changes in Northern Cape coastal birds
2 min |
May - June 2020
African Birdlife
Home On The Range?
Is the Mountain Pipit an altitudinal migrant into KwaZulu-Natal?
2 min |
May - June 2020
African Birdlife
supernormal
Clutches in Hartlaub’s Gulls
2 min |
May - June 2020
African Birdlife
sightings IN THE SUBREGION
Mid-January to mid-March 2020
3 min |
May - June 2020
African Birdlife
man power
Observations of Black Coucal breeding in Mtunzini, KwaZulu-Natal
9 min |
May - June 2020
African Birdlife
pot luck
A lid filled with water provided an ideal bath for a hot African Pygmy Kingfisher in Liuwa Plains National Park.
1 min |
May - June 2020
African Birdlife
back off!
Korhaan confrontation
1 min |
May - June 2020
African Birdlife
Studying The Thunderbird
While BirdLife South Africa show-cases the Southern Ground-Hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri as its 2020 Bird of the Year, the FitzPatrick Institute celebrates two decades of studying these iconic thunderbirds.
4 min |
March - April 2020
African Birdlife
Girl Power
Black Sparrowhawk diva
3 min |
March - April 2020
African Birdlife
Double Take
Double-banded Coursers
2 min |
March - April 2020
African Birdlife
Raising Lazarus
On a mission to conserve Madagascar’s rarest birds
8 min |
March - April 2020
African Birdlife
Fetch & Carry
In early January I paid my first visit to the Addo Elephant National Park, near Port Elizabeth.
1 min |
March - April 2020
African Birdlife
Crushing Defeat
Yellow-bellied Greenbul’s untimely end
2 min |
March - April 2020
African Birdlife
Elevating Gamebirds
New francolin and spurfowl taxonomy
6 min |
March - April 2020
African Birdlife
Cliff Hangers
Birds of the Augrabies Gorge
8 min |
March - April 2020
African Birdlife
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.
2 min |
March - April 2020
African Birdlife
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.
5 min |
January - February 2020
African Birdlife
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.
5 min |
January - February 2020
African Birdlife
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.
8 min |
January - February 2020
African Birdlife
Dying For A Drink?
Kgalagadi battlefields
3 min |
January - February 2020
African Birdlife
Puffed daddy
The stately Kori Bustard Ardeotis kori is one of the most recognisable inhabitants of Africa’s savannas and deserts.
1 min |