Animals-and-Pets
African Birdlife
Trade Off
Official support for Grey Parrots.
10 min |
March - April 2017
African Birdlife
Future Custodians
Ensuring the future of Biodiversity Stewardship through education
2 min |
May/June 2018
African Birdlife
An Ill Wind Blowing In Lesotho
BirdLife South Africa strongly supports the responsible generation of renewable energy.
2 min |
May/June 2018
African Birdlife
Woodland Woes - Decline in South Africa's Forest Birds
Forest-dwelling bird species are disappearing from some of South Africa’s indigenous forests, with forest birds in the Eastern Cape being the most affected.
3 min |
May - June 2017
African Birdlife
Tough Love
Adult African Penguins may have most of their breeding strategy reasonably sorted, but when it comes to chick rearing, they can be pretty brutal at the close. New research has revealed that where this species’ parenting behaviour coincides with climate change, associated oceanographic changes and altered prey fish distribution patterns, the result can be a devastating decline in adolescent penguin survival rates in affected areas.
2 min |
May - June 2017
African Birdlife
No Place to Hide
In November we set offon a great ad-venture to Liuwa in remote western Zambia, just as the first summer rains were due. Liuwa is sandwiched between the Zambezi and Luanginga rivers in Barotseland. The soil is sandy and inundated with floodwaters and, if you time it right, it’s a birding paradise with seasonal pools of water and soil bursting with pink lilies. Collared Pratincoles flock in their thousands, while Wattled and Grey Crowned cranes decorate the grasslands. We knew we’d see some of the 45 000 wildebeest for which Liuwa is renowned, we expected to run into the packs of daytime-hunting hyaenas and we hoped to at least glimpse the last of Liuwa’s lions, Lady Liuwa.
1 min |
May - June 2017
African Birdlife
Poison - The Persistent Problem
More than 20 years ago, at the start of the dry season in the parched rangelands of northern Namibia, a local farmer implicated Lappet-faced Vultures in the killing of his new-born dorper lambs.
3 min |
May - June 2017
African Birdlife
Penguins Through The Ages
Thanks to their robust bones, which fossilise better than those of most other birds, we have a fairly good record of the evolutionary history of penguins.
3 min |
July - August 2017
African Birdlife
The World's Largest Canary - Sao Tome Grosbeak
The São Tomé Grosbeak Neospiza concolor is a contender for being one of the most enigmatic bird species on the planet.
4 min |
July - August 2017
African Birdlife
Kingfisher To The King - Malachite Kingfisher
The town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape is a magnet for tour-ist buses.
5 min |
July - August 2017
African Birdlife
Up Where We Belong
UCT rated third for ornithology in World University Rankings
2 min |
July - August 2017
African Birdlife
Robert John Martin
The Western Cape lost one of its most experienced birders when Rob Martin passed away peacefully in his sleep on 29 May 2017.
3 min |
July - August 2017
African Birdlife
Pecking Order
Little Egrets are commonly seen along waterways throughout the Okavango Delta.
1 min |
July - August 2017
African Birdlife
Wide, Open De Mond
Gusts of the wildest wind scorch across acres of exposed sand, whipping it up into tiny, stinging tornadoes, garnished by the skimming salt of the sea.
7 min |
July/August 2018
African Birdlife
No Risk, No Reward - Taking The Lion's Share
Most African vultures depend pri-marily on the kills made by large carnivores for their food.
3 min |
July/August 2018
African Birdlife
In The Swim
Generous donation boosts SANCCOB
5 min |
July/August 2018
African Birdlife
Blended Family
Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark.
9 min |
January/February 2017
African Birdlife
Behind The Lens
Albert Froneman.
6 min |
January/February 2017
African Birdlife
Breaking Through The Ranks
Women in birding In southern Africa, birding has historically been dominated by men and a glance at the Top 50 listers in the subregion quickly confirms this. In the USA, there are many women birders, but there too they seem to be poorly represented in the top rankings. Locally, however, a sea change is occurring. Recent years have seen increasing numbers of female birders of all ages participating at big twitches and attending bird fairs. There are also plenty of women who bird simply for the sheer enjoyment of it, where the appreciation of birds and all things birding is more important than garnering another tick. A growing number of women with excellent birding skills are rising through the local listing ranks. Martin Benadie spoke to a few of those who are close to reaching the benchmark of 900 species seen in the subregion. Their achievements will hopefully inspire more women to become front-runners in this field, whether in management positions in birding organisations, in research and conservation or as list leaders.
10 min |
July - August 2016
African Birdlife
Introduced Predators - Leave A Trail Of Extinction
Introduced mammals can be devast-ating for birds.
2 min |
March - April 2017
African Birdlife
On The Shelf
The Lanner Falcon is a familiar spe-cies to most African birders, although many may not know that it is part of a species complex (Hierofalco) that includes the mighty Arctic Gyrfalcon and the hardy Asian Saker, or that the Lanner itself comprises five confirmed subspecies spread across southern Eur ope and most of Africa.
2 min |
March - April 2017
African Birdlife
Top Guns
BIRDS OF PREY have, unsurprisingly, fascinated people throughout the ages.
3 min |
March - April 2017
African Birdlife
Barrie Rose 1947 - 2016
On 30 December 2016 southern Africa lost not only its most experienced seabirder, but also a true gentleman.
2 min |
March - April 2017
African Birdlife
Taking The Tuna Project To Indonesia
Within the framework of the Common Oceans Tuna Project, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is working with BirdLife South Africa, as the local partner of BirdLife International, to lessen the impact of tuna fisheries on biodiversity.
2 min |
March - April 2017
African Birdlife
Blowing Hot & Cold
An often-cited argument against wind energy is that it kills a large number of birds.
2 min |
March - April 2017
African Birdlife
Cause For Alarm
As anyone who has played a Pearl-spotted Owlet tape knows, other birds mob owls.
1 min |
March - April 2017
African Birdlife
Sightings In The Subregion - Mid-May To Mid-July 2017
Sightings In The Subregion - Mid-May To Mid-July 2017
3 min |
Sep/oct 2017
African Birdlife
Moorhen Madness
Moorhen Madness
1 min |
Sep/oct 2017
African Birdlife
Shining Light - Hugh Chittenden
Shining Light - Hugh Chittenden
3 min |
Sep/oct 2017
African Birdlife
Binocular Review - Leica Noctivid
Binocular Review - Leica Noctivid
4 min |