Cape Gannet in Ostrich
BirdLife South Africa’s Bird of the Year for 2022 is the Cape Gannet. In a fortuitous turn of events, the most recent issue of Ostrich features three articles on this species, as well as a perspective commenting on its precarious conservation status. We are grateful to the publishers NISC and Taylor & Francis Group for giving members and affiliates of BirdLife South Africa free access to these and other articles for a limited period, so download them while you can!
You can access the articles at:
The names and naming of gannets comprising the genus Morus (family Sulidae) by Adrian Koopman
Sexual and individual signatures are encoded in the temporal rate of Cape Gannet Morus capensis display calls
by Kezia Bowmaker-Falconer, Andréa Thiebault, Maëlle Connan, Thierry Aubin, Isabelle Charrier & Pierre Pistorius
The influence of nest location and the effect of predator removal on Cape Gannet Morus capensis egg predation by Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus vetula by Zanri Strydom, Lauren J Waller, Mark Brown, Hervé Fritz & Jan A Venter
An ethogram for the nesting and breeding behaviour of the Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus
by Fiona K Fern, Lindy J Thompson & Colleen T Downs
How do we feel, African Ornithology? A sentiment analysis search for symptoms of eco-anxiety by Alan TK Lee
Host specificity of the Pygmy Falcon Polihierax semitorquatus: a review by
Dieter Oschadleus
ALAN LEE, SCIENCE AND INNOVATION PROGRAMME MANAGER
A virtual IO Congress with an African flavour
Prof. Dominique Homberger gave special thanks to BirdLife South Africa for its role in organising the International Ornithological Congress (IO Congress) 2022 as well as for sponsoring prizes for best student talks, posters and a photo competition in the form of books and subscriptions to African BirdLife.
Prof. Homberger is now past-president of the International Ornithologists’ Union (IOU), which has convened the IO Congress since 1884 to promote international cooperation in ornithological research. This year the IOU partnered with the University of KwaZulu-Natal to organise the 28th IO Congress, led by Prof. Colleen Downs and aided by Prof. Will Cresswell of the University of St Andrews. I represented BirdLife South Africa on the local organising committee.
The IO Congress was first held in Africa in 1998 and we were looking forward to hosting it again in Durban, but due to global insecurity relating to the Covid pandemic and the global recession, the decision was made to go fully virtual. This was a great disappointment to international delegates wishing to visit South Africa and enjoy its birds, but due to lower prices for virtual participation, coupled with generous sponsorship from the Oppenheimer Foundation, students and developing world participants were particularly well represented at the congress.
South Africa-based The Conference Company received much praise for its hosting of the virtual event. It provided a platform that included various tools for networking and engagement and there was constant technical support for presenters across the eight parallel sessions. More than 400 topics were presented from locations around the world and a variety of exciting round-table discussions were held in Zoom-like virtual environments, allowing direct engagement with topic experts. It is impossible at a conference like this to attend all talks, but in this case all content could be accessed for a month after the event, allowing greater opportunity to access content.
BirdLife South Africa was well represented at the congress, with talks by Carina Pienaar, Melissa Whitecross, Andrew de Blocq, Shamiso Banda and myself. There was also a round-table discussion on the theme of advancing African ornithology, as well as a workshop on how to get published. Mark Anderson gave a welcome message and the opening talk was by BirdLife South Africa’s president, Prof. Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan.
The virtual event meant a lower congress carbon footprint, but also fewer opportunities for local bird guides and tour operators. In view of this, we hope that future IO Congresses will be hybrid events, giving participants a chance to either visit new destinations or take part virtually. Maybe we’ll ‘see’ you at the next one in 2026.
ALAN LEE, SCIENCE AND INNOVATION PROGRAMME MANAGER
Entrepreneurship training for bird guides
Community Bird Guides trained by BirdLife South Africa graduate from the course as independent operators. Seven of them recently received additional training in entrepreneurship, in partnership with the Wilderness Leadership School.
Running a business is a tricky venture and particularly so for people within a niche tourism market, as Community Bird Guides are. We recently put seven guides through an entrepreneurial course with the Wilderness Leadership School in KwaZulu-Natal. The guides embarked on a multi-day wilderness trail in the iMfolozi Game Reserve and then sat through a week of workshops and problem solving. The trail is designed to give the guides a distraction-free crucible in which they can consider the direction that they would like to take, as well as test their limits and comforts. It also helps to bring the group together through common struggles before the workshops.
We would like to thank Duncan Pritchard and the team at the Wilderness Leadership School for giving our guides an excellent level of training. We are confident that this will help them to realise their hopes and dreams for their tourism businesses.
You can find all of our guides on our GoBirding avitourism platform (www.gobirding.co.za).
ANDREW DE BLOCQ, AVITOURISM PROJECT MANAGER
Managing ecosystems – a rethink
Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher ‘standard of living’ is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free. For us, the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television. – Aldo Leopold
It is possible to regenerate ecosystems such as grassland rather than merely maintain or restore them and, somewhat surprisingly, we can use livestock to revive our landscapes and ensure that our bird populations (among others) thrive. This I learned at a recent executive land management course presented by Roland Kroon and Johan Bouwer from the Herding Academy in Graaff-Reinet.
Conventional agricultural practices have failed us. I grew up on a farm thinking that the methods used by farmers were not only essential for food production, but were also healing the land by correcting soil composition using the latest technology or feeding maize to cattle during winter to keep them alive. How wrong I was.
Conventional agriculture evolved to where it is today for a couple of reasons, but most importantly because of a ‘I must do as my father did’ mentality. Not that the fathers and grandfathers were wrong necessarily, but their methods were born out of an understanding of their circumstances and what was necessary to them. But circumstances change. We know more now thanks to science, but we have lost the ability to learn the wisdom of the veld. We spend too much time ‘researching’ and not enough time listening to what the birds and animals can tell us.
During the first week of September I spent a week training with the Herding Academy, my mind being blown by an information overload that challenged what I always thought I knew about the functionality and management of ecosystems. I learned about soils and their microbes, nutrition and the gut functions of cattle and sheep, the role we play and the very important role of a career in herding. Basically I learned that nature has everything it needs to look after itself. Grass has enough nutrition, even in the winter, to look after the creatures that live in it; that what we regard as management systems are just tools to renew our soils and natural vegetation; and that no plant, insect or animal is truly a non-desirable. Even what we regard as weeds, pests or invasive species fulfil a specific function at a specific time and can be good.
Our intensive management of the natural ecosystem is what is causing our natural, pristine landscapes to deteriorate from the ground up. Instead we should be just guiding it, listening to what is truly needed and providing that input when the time is right. We may not see the desertification under our grasslands yet because of the thick green carpet in summer, but it is there. And maybe that is what the diminishing numbers of Yellow-breasted Pipit, Rudd’s Lark and Botha’s Lark are trying to tell us. Something is very wrong, but if we spend enough time listening to nature and following its rhythms, we can restore and revive landscapes to an extent we cannot yet comprehend.
It’s not about doing different things, just about doing things a little differently.
CARINA PIENAAR, INGULA AND GRASSLANDS CONSERVATION PROJECT MANAGER
Welcome to Open Morning!
Get an early start on shopping for the festive season and join us on Saturday, 29 October at our headquarters in Gauteng. There will be lots on offer: bird books, checklists, gifts, binoculars, bird food and feeders, T-shirts, pin badges, calendars, second-hand books, caps, hats and clothing … and so much more!
Entrance is free of charge.
CLARE NEALL, EVENTS MANAGER
People power – a valuable renewable energy resource
Wind energy is a clean, renewable source of power, but one of its disadvantages is that birds can be killed if they collide with wind turbine blades. Excelsior Wind Farm near Swellendam, a project of renewable energy producer BTE Renewables, is using the power of people to help reduce this risk. Excelsior has employed a team of observers to implement ‘observer-led shutdown on demand’, which means that turbines are stopped from turning when threatened bird species fly too close, reducing the risk of fatalities. The Birds and Renewable Energy Specialist Group, convened by BirdLife South Africa’s Birds and Renewable Energy Project, visited the site to see the team in action.
The observers are positioned at three different vantage points across the wind farm and together they have a full view of the wind farm’s 13 turbines. When a Black Harrier, Cape Vulture, Martial Eagle or Verreaux’s Eagle (the priority species at that site) is spotted, they track the bird(s). If the birds are between 1km and 2km from a turbine, they get ready for action; at 1km, a call is made to stop the turbine. Once the decision has been made, it takes less than a minute for the blades to come to a complete standstill.
Excelsior is not the first wind farm to implement observer-led shutdown on demand in South Africa, but it is the first to do it well – and that’s thanks to a large team and strong management. Led by Clarissa Mars, a passionate and determined young conservationist, the observers are all well trained, supported and, importantly, motivated. Even though shutdowns can cost money (turbines don’t generate power when they are not turning), the team is empowered and encouraged to call for turbines to be stopped whenever they deem it necessary to protect priority species. As it turns out, the income lost due to shutdowns at Excelsior is just a small percentage of the wind farm’s turnover.
Locating wind turbines outside areas regularly used by threatened species remains the first and most reliable step to reduce the risk of bird fatalities. However, it is difficult, if not impossible, to eliminate the risk with turbine location alone. Observer-led shutdown on demand is one way to address the residual risk of fatalities – and it creates green jobs. The power of people can be a valuable resource for renewable energy.
A huge thank you to Excelsior Wind Farm for welcoming us on site, for sharing the challenges it has faced and the secrets of its success, and for its dedication to sustainability. We look forward to seeing similar programmes replicated at other wind farms in South Africa.
SAMANTHA RALSTON-PATON, BIRDS AND RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT MANAGER
World Water Week at Inkanyezi Primary
World Water Week is celebrated during the last week of August on the environmental calendar and, together with World Water Day in March, it focuses on the importance of freshwater and aims to raise awareness of people who live without access to safe water. The theme for this year was ‘Seeing the unseen: the value of water’.
The value of water is evident in communities across South Africa where people go for weeks – even months – without water, even though it is their right to have access to this basic need. Ingula conservation team members and I celebrated the week by visiting Inkanyezi Primary School outside Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal, using presentations and videos to engage Grade 6 and 7 learners.
The school was well prepared for our visit, as its group of traditional dancers performed a routine that was well received by the audience. Nonhlanhla Shezi, who works at Ingula’s visitor centre, explained to the learners why it is crucial to use water wisely at home and school, especially since Ingula is also a pumped storage scheme and requires water to generate electricity. I explained to learners some of the environmental issues relating to water and why it is important to conserve water sources, including wetlands. The day was a success and enjoyed by about 130 learners and five educators at Inkanyezi Primary School.
STEVEN SEGANG, INGULA PROJECT ASSISTANT
Wanted: a Secretarybird Conservation Officer
BirdLife South Africa wants to recruit a qualified, dedicated and dynamic Secretarybird Conservation Officer to assist with a long-term conservation project that aims to reverse the decline in one of Africa’s most iconic raptor species, the Endangered Secretarybird.
The incumbent will support BirdLife South Africa’s Raptor and Large Terrestrial Bird Project Manager in all aspects of the Secretarybird Project, ranging from research activities such as collecting data and monitoring populations across the species’ range in South Africa to administrative duties, including the acquisition of permits. Extensive field work will be required, as well as regular engagement with key stakeholders such as landowners, provincial and national conservation authorities and agricultural organisations.
Closing date for applications: 14 October 2022
Assumption of duties: 4 January 2023
To apply, please e-mail your CV and cover letter to me at isabel.human@birdlife.org.za with the subject title ‘Secretarybird Conservation Officer’.
Additional information is available at https://www.birdlife.org.za/who-we-are/vacancies or from Raptor and Large Terrestrial Bird Project Manager, Dr Christiaan Brink at christiaan.brink@birdlife.org.za
DR ISABEL HUMAN, HR MANAGER & EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
BirdLife100 World Congress
From 11 to 16 September, BirdLife International marked its centenary at the BirdLife100 World Congress in Cambridge, England, and BirdLife South Africa was there to help celebrate not only 100 years of BirdLife International, but also the unity of the BirdLife Partnership.
As part of the centenary festivities, BirdLife Partners from many of the 117 countries that make up the Partnership, conservationists and renowned environmental advocates from around the world congregated to protect birds and their habitats and bring nature back from the brink.
As well as celebratory events, there were networking opportunities, award ceremonies and a series of discussions that featured leaders of many different sectors. Topics ranged from biodiversity and climate change to conservation finance and the links between the health of our planet and human health.
You can follow the BirdLife100 campaign and find out more at https://www.birdlife.org/birdlife100/
ANDY WASSUNG, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Calling all bird photographers!
Enter this photographic competition and you could be the lucky winner of a three-night stay for four people at Awelani Lodge, near the Kruger National Park’s Pafuri Gate. All you need to do is submit your best photos of birds that commonly occur in the Pafuri and Limpopo River Basin areas, using the entry form at http://www.peoplesweather.com/competitions/birdlife.
Please familiarise yourself with the terms and conditions on this website and note that the competition closes on Monday, 26 September at 12h00.
Watch this space for more bird photography competitions with People’s Weather in the coming months.
ANDY WASSUNG, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Advancing African ornithology
It is essential to continue making progress in studying and acquiring knowledge about Africa’s birdlife and we would be grateful for your input into how best this can be done. If you can spare five minutes, your participation in our online survey ‘Advancing African Ornithology’ would be greatly appreciated. Click on https://forms.office.com/r/DJ3AgBR7cQ to fill in the online form.
SHAMISO BANDA, RED DATA BOOK & SEABIRD LIAISON OFFICER
Austin Roberts Memorial Award 2023
BirdLife South Africa’s Austin Roberts Memorial Award was established to honour people who have made a significant contribution to bird conservation in South Africa. It is named after Austin Roberts (1883–1948) who, more than 70 years after his death, remains a household name thanks to the range of bird books that bear his name.
The award is bestowed upon the recipient at BirdLife South Africa’s Annual General Meeting. The inaugural award was presented to John Ledger in 2014, to David Chamberlain in 2015 and to Bruce Dyer in 2019.
We are now inviting nominations for the Austin Roberts Memorial Award for 2023. If you would like to make a nomination, please visit https://www.birdlife.org.za/who-we-are/awards/austin-roberts-memorial-medal-award/ for criteria and information about the procedure. Nominations can only be made by members of BirdLife South Africa and should include a detailed motivation and the candidate’s CV.
Please send your nominations to isabel.human@birdlife.org.za by Friday, 24 February 2023.
DR ISABEL HUMAN, HR MANAGER & EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Gill Memorial Medal Award 2023
BirdLife South Africa’s most prestigious honour is the Gill Memorial Medal Award, which is awarded to deserving recipients for their outstanding lifetime contributions to ornithology in southern Africa. The inaugural award was presented to Jack Winterbottom in 1960 and the most recent recipient was Prof. Peter Ryan earlier this year. The list of recipients includes a renowned group of southern Africa’s distinguished ornithologists, including David Allan, Claire Spottiswoode, Phillip Clancey, Roy Siegfried, Richard Brooke, Warwick Tarboton, Richard Dean, John Cooper and Adrian Craig. The award is presented at BirdLife South Africa’s Annual General Meeting.
Please visit https://www.birdlife.org.za/who-we-are/awards/gill-memorial-medal-award/ for criteria and information about procedure. Nominations can only be made by members of BirdLife South Africa and should include a detailed motivation, a short CV for the candidate and a list of his/her relevant achievements (especially his/her publication list).
Please send your nominations to isabel.human@birdlife.org.za by Friday, 24 February 2023.
DR ISABEL HUMAN, HR MANAGER & EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Get your ticket now!
Time is running out to purchase your ticket for BirdLife South Africa’s annual raffle. Buy a ticket for just R500 and you stand three chances of winning a share of R135 000. But more than the cash prize, your contribution will help us to continue our important work on the front lines of bird conservation.
Please consider buying a ticket. You can do so at https://www.birdlife.org.za/jackpot-birding-2022 – and you’ll be helping to protect our amazing natural heritage in the process.
Society Lottery Scheme is registered with National Lotteries Commission (Reg No. 00293/04).
Vultures in trouble
Every year, the first Saturday of September marks International Vulture Awareness Day, a global initiative to raise awareness about – and to celebrate – the planet’s amazing vultures. However, four of South Africa’s vulture species are classified as Critically Endangered, which means that they are only one step away from becoming Extinct in the Wild.
This year, BirdLife South Africa commemorated International Vulture Awareness Day on Saturday, 3 September by releasing an insightful and deeply concerning interview, in which the manager of the organisation’s Vulture Project, Linda van den Heever, talks about why vultures are in trouble and shares her latest research on this crisis, including the effects of lead ammunition and lead poisoning on vultures.
You can watch the 10-minute interview below. Please share Linda’s critical work far and wide to help us halt the population declines of vultures.
Find out more about BirdLife South Africa’s Vulture Conservation Project at https://bit.ly/3Rxhwtx
With thanks to the Isdell Family Foundation, the Mary Oppenheimer & Daughters Foundation and the Ford Wildlife Foundation, and to our photograph and footage contributors Albert and Marietjie Froneman, Chris van Rooyen, Mark Anderson and Johan Vermeulen.
ANDY WASSUNG, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Staying safe
As BirdLife South Africa’s HR Manager, I recently spent time at the Wakkerstroom Tourism and Education Centre conducting a training programme for staff involved in environmental education to ensure that certain organisational habits, rules and procedures are being followed. Known as ‘safeguarding’, these are necessary to check that staff comply with a best-practice standard when working with people, especially as part of our environmental education activities. Steven Segang, Ingula and Grassland Conservation Assistant, Kristi Garland, the manager of the Wakkerstroom Tourism and Education Centre, and Nandi Thobela, the manager of the Empowering People Programme, all took part.
DR ISABEL HUMAN, HR MANAGER & EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Letaba birding
The Letaba area in the Kruger National Park offers some of the best birding in South Africa and visitors who join the SANParks Honorary Rangers’ four-day birding experience there are sure to get some wonderful sightings. Prof. Derek Engelbrecht of the University of Limpopo will be their guide, and the Honorary Rangers will arrange for some exciting off-the-beaten-track birding opportunities along the Letaba River. All this is for a good cause, as proceeds will go towards conservation projects in South Africa’s national parks.
Prof. Engelbrecht is an accomplished ornithologist and a recipient of BirdLife South Africa’s Eagle-Owl Award for his exceptional contribution to bird conservation. He will share his knowledge on finding birds, recognising calls and interpreting behaviour during informal talks and game drives in open game-viewing vehicles.
Date: 20–23 October 2022
Venue: Letaba rest camp, Kruger National Park
Cost: R2190 per person (includes activities, teas, brunches and game drives). A selection of pre-booked accommodation is available at additional cost.
Contact: Charles Hardy at charlois1044@gmail.com
For more information: https://www.sanparksvolunteers.org/events/letaba-birding-experience-with-prof-derek-engelbrecht/
NORMA SHARRATT, NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE, SANPARKS HONORARY RANGERS
Register now for BBD!
Saturday, 3 December 2022 will see hundreds of birders taking part in BirdLife South Africa’s 38th Birding Big Day (BBD). We invite you to join in and enjoy the remarkable diversity of birds in South Africa. You can spend the whole day birding or only a few hours in your local garden or park.
To participate, create a team of at least four birders, choose an area to bird and then register. You can decide to log your sightings on the mobile app BirdLasser or jot the species down on a piece of paper.
In 2021 we launched a new 5km radius category in addition to the standard 50km category and it proved to be extremely popular. Considering the high fuel price, I am sure many participants would like to limit the distance they travel and I wouldn’t be surprised if this category becomes even more popular this year. We have expanded the 5km radius to 6km, as the 5km radius does not entirely cover a pentad, the unit used for recording data for the SABAP2. This option is ideal for those birders who want to atlas a pentad or just their local birding patch. You can still upload your sightings using BirdLasser; there will be a dedicated online map for this category.
BBD promises to be great fun, so select your team, decide on your route and register! If you need more information, please go to https://www.birdlife.org.za/support-us/events/birding-big-day-2022/ or contact me at ernst.retief@birdlife.org.za
To register, please use this link: https://www.birdlife.org.za/birding-big-day-2022-entry-form/
ERNST RETIEF, BIRDING BIG DAY ORGANISER
2023 is around the corner!
Don’t delay – order the 2023 Birds of Southern Africa calendar while stocks last! Each year, this annual calendar, brought to you by BirdLife South Africa and Chamberlain, is a stunning showcase of our country’s natural avian heritage, and the 2023 edition is better than ever. Look no further if you’re wanting to buy the perfect Christmas or corporate gift – but be sure to get your order in while we still have stock.
To place your order for delivery within South Africa (or for collection at Isdell House), please visit https://www.birdlife.org.za/support-us/2023-calendar. For international deliveries, please contact me at membership@birdlife.org.za
SHIREEN GOULD, MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMME MANAGER
Birding in Mtunzini with Womxn for Wild
Between 2 and 5 February 2023, join Womxn for Wild and behold ancient forests on immersive walks, marvel at the mangroves of the North Coast and paddle along languid lagoons looking for kingfishers. KwaZulu-Natal is home to a flock of expert female bird guides, who often had to beat uphill odds. And we’re taking you to Umlalazi to meet them.
BirdLife South Africa is the country’s premier bird conservation authority and a registered non-profit, public benefit environmental organisation. For the past 20 years, it has trained individuals from rural backgrounds to become professional bird guides, and more than 200 of them have graduated.
No idea what ornithology means? Don’t be intimidated. Whether you’re a total fledgling birder or you’re looking to scour the forests for a lifer, this is a beautiful, slow-paced immersive adventure to kickstart your year. Plus, all participants will score a BirdLife membership to kickstart their birding journey!
Find out more about Womxn for Wild and this upcoming midsummer birding adventure at https://www.womxnforwild.co.za/birding-adventure-female-guides
ANDREW DE BLOCQ, AVITOURISM PROJECT MANAGER, AND MELANIE VAN ZYL AND CARMEN CLAIRE VAN DER WESTHUIZEN, WOMXN FOR WILD
Out and about with African Birdlife
In the latest issue of African Birdlife you’ll explore the birding hotspots of Mozambique with Peter Ryan and Etienne Marais and accompany Wesley Gush to the Bubye Valley in Zimbabwe. Closer to home, Garret Skead finds atlasing Cape Town’s City Bowl surprisingly productive and Black Sparrowhawks are moving westwards, while on the photographic front Peter Ryan field tests the new Canon R3 mirrorless camera.
Enjoy a discounted rate for all six issues of African Birdlife per year by becoming a subscriber. Alternatively, join BirdLife South Africa and as a member receive your copy of the magazine while helping us to conserve our country’s magnificent birdlife.
A first on its way for the Berg
As a wetland of international importance, the Berg River estuary, a newly recognised Ramsar site, will gain further protection through the declaration of a 6500ha Protected Environment along its northern bank. The Berg is one of South Africa’s most important estuaries for conservation, particularly with respect to its fish and bird life and its diverse habitats, including the extensive floodplain around its middle and upper reaches.
The Melck Protected Environment will constitute the first formal protection for the estuary. Comprising a significant area of estuarine floodplain as well as some of the last remaining intact strandveld and fynbos at the estuary, it will provide much-needed protection for these threatened ecosystem types, which include healthy populations of several plant and bird Species of Conversation Concern.
BirdLife South Africa is proud to work with the landowners declaring the Protected Environment and grateful for their commitment in taking this crucial step to secure a critical ecological corridor in an already highly transformed and increasingly pressurised landscape.
The Intention to Declare the Melck Protected Environment was published in the government gazette on 29 July 2022 and will be released for public comment shortly.
DR GISELLE MURISON, WESTERN CAPE ESTUARIES CONSERVATION PROJECT MANAGER
It’s Heritage Month!
September is the month in which South Africans celebrate the country’s diverse heritage, including its magnificent birdlife. As a positive and patriotic organisation, BirdLife South Africa is pleased to share a number of heritage-inspired initiatives.
Love Birds. Love Your Country
If you’re based in Gauteng, you may have already noticed our new English and isiZulu billboards, which encourage fellow South Africans to ‘Love Birds. Love Your Country’ or ‘Thandani izinyoni, thandani izwe lenu’ and to embrace their natural heritage and celebrate the rich diversity of birdlife that, like us, calls this land home.
We have created a version of the national flag using some common (and not-so-common) birds, inspired by the six colours of our flag. These are Cape Crow (black), Yellow Weaver (yellow), Cape Parrot (green), Great Egret (white), Southern Red Bishop (red) and Blue Swallow (blue).
Relate bracelets
BirdLife South Africa has teamed up with Relate to create a fun, colourful and patriotic beaded bracelet made up of the six colours of our country’s beautiful flag. For only R49, you can celebrate your heritage and help conserve our country’s magnificent birds in the process. Order yours now from Shop for the Birds! at https://shop.birdlife.org.za/product/birdlife-south-africas-relate-bracelet/. Why not throw in a ‘Love Birds’ bumper sticker (R40) at the same time? You’ll find it at https://shop.birdlife.org.za/product/love-birds-long-sticker/
The Dawn Chorus
Whether you’re getting up for an early morning game drive in the Kruger National Park or getting ready for another day’s work in the big city, you are undoubtedly in the good company of some even earlier risers: birds. Before most of us have even flicked on the kettle for that first cup of coffee, the dark, quiet hours of a new day are already breaking with the melodious magic of birdsong.
From the sweet, ascending song of the White-browed Robin-chat to the harsh, rude awakening of the Hadeda Ibis, we believe that we are privileged to live in a country that is home to such symphony and we want to celebrate it accordingly. Which is why we’ve created a radio series that is inspired by it. The Dawn Chorus is a weekly radio feature that showcases the wonderful calls of many of South Africa’s bird species. Each Monday morning just before 06h00 on Fine Music Radio, a new episode heralds the Dawn Chorus for the week.
The Dawn Chorus is patriotically brought to you by BirdLife South Africa, Fine Music Radio and Guy Gibbon Bird Calls, and we are grateful to Mel Tripp of BirdLife South Africa and Rodney Trudgeon and Vanessa Levenstein of Fine Music Radio for spearheading this wonderful series. Our thanks go to Mark Anderson and Albert Froneman for sharing their collections of superb bird photographs with us for the purposes of education.
The Dawn Chorus is now also available on BirdLife South Africa’s website. Just plug in your headphones and enjoy learning about South Africa’s earliest risers on the Dawn Chorus webpage at https://www.birdlife.org.za/the-dawn-chorus/
ANDY WASSUNG, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
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