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The May/June issue of African Birdlife contains an intriguing mix of features about birding, birding personalities, natural history observations, the recent bonanza of rare bird sightings, and useful identification information. Plus, as always, great photography and competitions…

Deciphering South Africa’s first Crested Honey Buzzard
The inconvenient possibility that the Crested Honey Buzzard at Somerset West could be a hybrid throws a spotlight on the tricky identification of this species. Callan Cohen unravels the finer points necessary to distinguish the bird.

Observing Striped Crakes
Above-average summer rainfall created perfect conditions for the nomadic Striped Crake to move into seasonally flooded pans in the Kruger National Park, where the birds provided excellent viewing opportunities.

It’s a calling
Warwick Tarboton is a true naturalist and respected as one of the country’s foremost natural history authors and bird photographers.

Redefining Plett Rage
A Covid-19 quarantine period presented Mike Buckham with the perfect excuse to go on a birding bash in the Plettenberg Bay pentad. His competitive nature came to the fore…

Craving caterpillars
Hugh Chittenden’s observations of the preferred diet of a juvenile African Cuckoo.

Home invader
Derek Keats highlights the nuptial courtship and parasitic breeding strategies of the Diederik Cuckoo.

A Wahlberg’s summer
An evocative diary of time spent monitoring the breeding cycle of a pair of Wahlberg’s Eagles in Limpopo.

The birds and the beasts
Mitch Reardon discusses some of the unusual symbiotic relationships between birds and mammals in Addo Elephant National Park.

Action Stations
Natural fish traps in the Okavango are guaranteed to produce masses of piscivorous birds, all vying to catch the fish concentrated in shrinking pools of water.