February 2025 Newsletter

African Birdlife online

BirdLife South Africa is delighted to bring you African Birdlife online, the brand-new digital companion to African Birdlife magazine. Whether you’re a seasoned birder, a nature enthusiast or just discovering the joy of birds, this website is your go-to source for up-to-date birding news, stunning photography daily, trip reports, reviews, interviews with the bird nerds and aficionados from your birding communities, exciting competitions and so much more!

Rest assured, the magazine you know and love isn’t going anywhere. You can still enjoy its glossy pages filled with professional image portfolios, expertly crafted features, in-depth studies, expeditions, rarities reports and the conservation stories that make a difference.With our website, you’ll have access to even more – and it will be updated regularly to keep you in the loop with the latest in the African birding world, and beyond.

We built this website for you, and we believe it should be part of the birding community, so we’d love to hear your thoughts. What would you like to see more (or less) of? What technical features would make your birding experience even better? What stories you are aching to read? Simply click on ‘contact’ at the top and share your ideas with us.

We hope you enjoy exploring the site and look forward to making this an essential part of your birding journey. Just click on the link https://africanbirdlife.org.za/

Happy birding!

ANTON CRONE, EDITOR AFRICAN BIRDLIFE

96th Annual General Meeting

BirdLife South Africa is excited to announce that the 96th Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Saturday, 24 May 2025 from 15h00 to 17h00 in Cape Town. This significant event marks another year of dedication to bird conservation, and all BirdLife South Africa members are invited to participate.

While BirdLife South Africa eagerly anticipates welcoming members in person to this important gathering, we understand that not everyone can be there. The AGM will therefore also be accessible virtually, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to be part of this key event regardless of their location.

The AGM offers members a chance to review the year’s activities, celebrate successes and discuss the future of bird conservation in South Africa. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow bird enthusiasts and the BirdLife South Africa team.

Stay tuned for further details about the agenda and how to register for virtual attendance. We look forward to seeing you, whether in person or online, at this milestone event!

Save the date:

Event: 96th Annual General Meeting of BirdLife South Africa

Date: Saturday, 24 May 2025

Time: 15h00–17h00 (SAST)

Location: Cape Town (also available virtually)

We can’t wait to share this special occasion with all our dedicated members!

Roberts seabird artworks for sale

‘A profound experience bordering on spiritual’ is how many people described the recent Flock to Marion AGAIN! 2025.

Seabirds are not gaudy, not even colourful, and nor are they easy to access. But as the ever-increasing fraternity of pelagic fanatics know, their adaptation to the hostile environment they inhabit is awe-inspiring.

So while seabirds are the flavour of the month, the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund would like to remind everyone that seabird original artworks from Roberts Bird Guide 2nd edition are available. If you are interested, go to robertsbirds.co.za/artwork/ to view elegant terns, dainty ‘dancing’ storm petrels, vulturine giant petrels and more.

And, as on all such purchases, 25 per cent will go to BirdLife South Africa.

Reversing the Red for Grey-headed Albatrosses

For years, conservationists have watched species slide into the red, that end of the conservation scale where alarm sirens ring as species struggle with a changing world and call for urgent assistance. And that is the role conservationists play; they are the medics and first responders to ecological and environmental disasters. Now, with increased experience and shared purpose, conservationists are linking arms to stand together, stronger than ever before, to assist those most in need.

The Reverse the Red forum is an annual global event that showcases conservation work and successes from around the world. It restores energy to those weary from the fight on the battlegrounds of global change, from the now never-ending need to remind those around us of our impacts on the natural world. As part of the 7 February Reverse the Red Day, BirdLife South Africa celebrated its partner work and commitment to the recovery of species and ecosystems, showcasing actions that improve the conservation status of birds that breed, migrate and forage in our country and oceanic islands.

One of these species is the Grey-headed Albatross. This magnificent bird occurs only in the southern hemisphere, where it breeds on several Southern Ocean islands, including the Prince Edward Islands. A visually stunning albatross with a striking bi-coloured beak and 2.2m wingspan, it can cover distances of up to 13 000km in search of food and can circumnavigate the Southern Ocean in just over a month!

At-sea mortality from interactions with fishing vessels is the biggest threat to the Grey-headed Albatross, though not far behind is the population of introduced house mice on Marion Island, which attack chicks and adult birds, reducing the albatross’s breeding success. Assessing and addressing these threats is part of the work that BirdLife South Africa is currently involved in through the coordinated actions of three projects whose shared goal is to improve this species’ conservation status. The Regional Red Listing project is assessing the conservation status of the birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, including the Grey-headed Albatross. Regrettably, the assessments do not paint a pretty picture of the status of our birds, with more species assessed than ever before highlighting so many more species struggling in our modern world.

The Albatross Task Force team (ATF) in South Africa and ATF teams from Chile and Argentina (where large concentrations of Grey-headed Albatrosses are known to forage and die because they get caught up in fishing gear and become ‘bycatch’) are working together to address this threat. Mitigation measures have been developed, such as bird-scaring lines and the weighting and night setting of lines, all of which have been successfully implemented across several fisheries. In South Africa the mitigation measures and the shifting of fishing effort away from the Prince Edward Islands has virtually eliminated the threat of bycatch to this species. Efforts are ongoing off the coast of South Africa, where tracking data and records exist of juvenile Grey-headed Albatrosses foraging.

To address the threat of house mice, the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) project, which is a partnership between BirdLife South Africa and South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, has gathered a team of experienced scientists and conservationists to tackle what can best be described as an environmental catastrophe unfolding on Marion Island. The growing mouse population, resulting from warmer weather and a longer breeding season, has learnt that the gentle and naive seabirds of the island are easy pickings, and literally eats them alive. MFM is in the process of raising the necessary funds to clear the island of mice, using experience gained on other islands for what has been described as the most important seabird conservation project of our era. The success of this project will mean the saving of not only the Grey-headed Albatross, but hundreds of thousands of individuals of the estimated 19 bird species on Marion Island that are faced with local extinction because of mouse predation.

Together, we can Reverse the Red.

ROBYN ADAMS, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER AND PROJECT ASSISTANT, MFM; DR ALAN LEE, SCIENCE & INNOVATION PROGRAMME MANAGER; AND ANDREA ANGEL, ALBATROSS TASK FORCE MANAGER

Birds and birding in the Karoo

Due to popular demand, Rick Nuttall (ornithologist, naturalist and former director of the National Museum, Bloemfontein) will again present his four-day, three-night Karoo Birds and Birding course in 2025. Rick is an expert on the birds of central South Africa, with a particular interest in avian ecology and behaviour, and his classes, lectures and presentations are highly regarded.

Two weekend courses are being held: 9–11 March and 23–25 October in the Khoisan Karoo Conservancy, where participants will enjoy outstanding Karoo hospitality from hosts PC and Marisca Ferreira. This includes:

• Three nights’ accommodation at New Holme Nature Lodge
• Wholesome home-cooked Karoo meals, including a bush braai
• Five illustrated talks on the fascinating birds of the Khoisan Karoo Conservancy and the Great Karoo
• Daily early morning and afternoon birding excursions
• Two night drives to search for the ‘Shy 5’ nocturnal mammals (aardvark, aardwolf, bat-eared fox, Cape porcupine and black-footed cat)
• A guided walk to view ancient Khoi etchings and learn about their fascinating history
• Stunning starlit Karoo night skies.

In addition, a portion of the proceeds from your participation in the course will be donated to ensure that Community Bird Guides will also be able to take part. BirdLife South Africa is working with Karoo Khoisan Conservancy to provide further training opportunities for this network of highly skilled professionals.

Click on the image below for more information.

Be sure not to miss your spot – places are limited!

JOHN KINGHORN, AVITOURISM PROJECT MANAGER

Roberts Birds of Southern Africa app

The new Roberts Birds of Southern Africa app has been available on the Google Play store since 29 January 2025. The app can now be downloaded for both Apple and Android devices.

The development team is receiving amazing help from both its testing team and you, the birding enthusiasts of southern Africa. All these contributions will ensure that Roberts regains its mantle of ‘Best Bird App for Southern African Birds’. An extensive upgrade for Apple was released in January and a further upgrade for both platforms will also be released shortly.

The interest shown by birders for the app is really pleasing. All sorts of glitches and errors have already been rectified and improvements and regular updates will continue. As is the case with all new releases, there are many birders who have suggested improvements and have also stated clearly what they don’t like. These comments are all taken into account and we thank you for every suggestion.

We do know that many of you are wanting to move your sightings from the old Roberts app to the new app. This function has now been added to both Android and Apple versions. We have been surprised how many of you like and were using the birding sites. It will take some time, but an upgrade and improvement of this feature is being worked on. Due to popular demand, we will also be adding a compare function.

It was hoped, probably optimistically, that the app would have been released in November 2024 and on this basis the opening special price was to end on 28 February 2025. Due to the delayed release, we are pleased to announce that the special price of R260 as an annual subscription and a further R90 for image recognition will now be in place until the end of May 2025.

Please keep telling us where the app can be improved and we would also really like you to report any errors.

Happy, enjoyable birding!

THE ROBERTS BIRD APP TEAM

Unravelling the mysteries of European Roller migration

Although we haven’t yet located our tracked European Roller, Hera the Hero, in the field, the support from everyone following her journey has been incredible. Her last recorded GPS location was on 22 December and finding her has been challenging. I check her tracker system daily, hoping for an update that will allow us to mobilise a ground team. A huge thank you to everyone who has already offered to help – we truly appreciate it.

But hope is far from lost! We still have about two months to receive a fresh GPS signal, which will tell us whether she has remained in the Waterberg or has returned to her original trapping site. If you find yourself in the Waterberg region or Greater Kruger, keep an eye out for a European Roller with a tracker on her back and a striking blue leg ring. And as promised, whoever finds her will have the opportunity to join us in the field when we attempt to retrap her!

In even more exciting news, five additional satellite trackers are on their way and are expected to arrive in South Africa this month! With these, we’ll continue unlocking the secrets of European Roller migration, one bird at a time.

Meanwhile, our ringing efforts are in full swing. We’ve already trapped and ringed five more individuals, and all but one are first-year birds. This is an awe-inspiring testament to their ability to navigate vast landscapes and make it safely to South Africa. The only adult we caught had a brood patch, a touching reminder that just months ago, she/he was incubating eggs, raising the next generation of these remarkable travellers.

This week we’ll be heading to a new site to continue ringing. Trapping rollers requires patience and precision – they are particular about their food sources and surroundings, and even small adjustments can make a big difference in success rates. We’ll also be heading to Kruger for our annual transect monitoring. Early reports suggest this season’s sighting rates may be higher than last year’s, and we look forward to confirming this with our data, which will be available at the end of this year.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Your support and enthusiasm drive this project forward, and we couldn’t do it without you!

JESSICA WILMOT, FLYWAY AND MIGRANTS PROJECT MANAGER

Fascinating sunbirds and sugarbirds

The John Voelcker Bird Book Fund’s updated and expanded edition of Sunbirds and Sugarbirds of Southern Africa is out now. This captivating coffee table book, presented in collaboration with acclaimed illustrator Gail Darroll, delves into the world of nectar-feeding birds and takes an in-depth look at all 23 species of sunbirds and sugarbirds found in the sub-region.

Co-authored by Dr Mark Brown, a professional ornithologist and sunbird researcher, and renowned Ingrid Weiersbye, a Robert’s artist and Trustee, this book is written in an accessible and engaging style that will appeal to birding enthusiasts and casual readers alike. Each species account includes essential information such as identifying features, preferred food plants and habitat preferences, enabling readers to gain a deeper understanding of these extraordinary birds. Updated distribution maps, generated from the latest SABAP2 data, provide a clear view of where each species is found across the region.

Sunbirds and Sugarbirds of Southern Africa is enriched by extraordinary illustrations and photographs that showcase the remarkable plumage variation and intriguing behaviour of these vibrant birds. Whether you’re an avid birdwatcher or simply fascinated by nature, this book offers a visually stunning and educational experience.

Don’t miss out on this incredible addition to your birding library. You can now get your copy at the Shop for Birds! website here.

Discover the beauty and diversity of sunbirds and sugarbirds – order your copy today!

ProItUp Optics

At ProItUp Optics, we believe in making birding more inclusive and accessible to everyone. That’s why we were thrilled to sponsor the prize for BirdLife South Africa’s Flock to Marion Birdle Game. This fun and engaging activity sparks curiosity and excitement around birding, offering a fantastic way for both beginners and seasoned birders to deepen their interest in our feathered friends.

Birding is a passion that connects people to nature, conservation and the simple joy of observing wildlife. To further foster this connection, we launched ‘ProItUp Birding’, a community dedicated to bringing bird enthusiasts together. Through this platform, we aim to unite people who care about birds, share a love for high-quality optics and are committed to conservation efforts across Africa.

Our mission extends beyond just creating premium optical products; we’re using our tools to inspire a love for birding in people of all backgrounds. We’re building a community where everyone can feel welcome, learn and contribute to preserving Africa’s incredible avian diversity.

Sponsoring the Birdle Game aligns perfectly with our goal to make birding engaging, fun and meaningful. Whether you’re a seasoned birder or just starting out, games like this provide a gateway to exploring birding in an interactive way, and we’re proud to be part of it.

Join us in celebrating birds, conservation and community with BirdLife South Africa and ProItUp Birding. Together, let’s elevate the birding experience across Africa.

You can learn more about ProItUp Birding and our products by visiting our website www.proitupoptics.com or following us on social media @proitupoptics @proitupbirding. Together, we can make a difference for Africa’s birds.