UCT Open Access Journals (Univ. of Cape Town)
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Aerial attack - interaction between two Tractrac Chats
Get PDFOn a late June morning while driving on a farm road in the treeless gravel plains in Namibia (coordinates 22?25?S 15?24?E) I saw what looked like a Tractrac Chat cercomela (Emarginata) tractrac flying and repeatedly attacking something on the ground. At first I thought it might have struck down a snake or maybe a shrike on the ground, but it turned out to be another Tractrac Chat which was ducking every time another assault came down on it
Unusual prey of a Southern White-crowned Shrike.
Get PDFThis is the first record of a Southern White-crowned Shrike preying on a vertebrate and represents an extension of the diet of this species
Mammal-associated perching in Yellow-bellied Greenbul Chlorocichla flaviventris
Get PDFThe Yellow-bellied Greenbul Chlorocichla flaviventris forages mainly in the lower strata for fruit and insects (Louw 2005). In addition, there is a close association of foraging on and with mammals; these include on Impala Aepyceros melampus (Steyn 1975; Johnson 1998), Common Duiker Sylvicarpa grimmia (Vernon 1972; Chalton 1976), Nyala Tragelaphus angasii (Anon. 1968; Wallace & Wilson 1985; Kilpin 2005) (a further report is also likely Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Feely 1972), Klipspringer Oreotragus oreotragus (Roberts 1993; 1995), and Bushbuck Tragelaphus scriptus (Bennett 1991). Dell (2006) reports Yellow-bellied Greenbul gleaning for ticks on Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis, Nyala, Impala and Warthog Phacochoerus africanus, mainly in winter months (but this account that also includes Red-winged Starling Onychognathus morio and Eastern Nicator Nicator gularis is not clear on the specifics regarding the bird-mammal association). Dean & MacDonald (1981) who comprehensively reviewed feeding associations of birds with mammals indicate Yellow-bellied Greenbul gleaning ectoparasites from Nyala, Impala, and Common Duiker
Bizarre breeding behaviour of a Black Sparrowhawk
Get PDFThe Black Sparrowhawk builds a large, stick platform nest, high up in a tall, often alien tree. The cup of the nest is lined with green leaves. Given this, I was very sceptical when a birding friend was contacted by a lady in Somerset West claiming to have a Black Sparrowhawk sitting on an egg on her lawn. The bird had been there since the 13th September 2017 and seemed to be quite content
Bird distribution dynamics 9 - Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver Bubalornis niger in South Africa and Swaziland
Get PDFThe Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver has shown a range expansion westwards in the Northern Cape. This may be due to good rainfall in previous years It appears to have been present in the Swaziland to Zululand savanna corridor at low density for many decades
Bird ringing in the Ethiopian Highlands, 2016
Get PDFWhilst the ringing work was challenging and living conditions were rather basic, this two-month adventure in Ethiopia was completely different to any ringing project I have undertaken in the past, and our ability to ring birds and observe the wildlife in the mainly unspoilt and pristine habitat of the Bale Mountain National Park was a privilege afforded to very few, and for which I will always be grateful
Bird distribution dynamics 12 - the kingfishers of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland
Get PDF...The paper considers the 10 kingfishers that occur in southern Africa. It presents maps showing the SABAP1 distribution, the SABAP2 distribution, and a range-change map which shows how the distributions have changed in the quarter-century between the two atlasing projects...
Insight into the opportunistic feeding habits of Chorister Robin-chat Cossypha dichroa
Get PDFthe adaptive foraging behaviour employed by Chorister Robin-chat does occasionally include associations with forest antelope, including Blue Duiker Cephalopus monticola and Bushbuck Tragelaphus scriptus
SAFRING ringing report for 2016.
Get PDFFollowing from the 2015 SAFRING ringing summary (50th edition) (Paijmans et al. 2017), the database has grown to 2,604,636 SAFRING records (initial, retrap, resightings and recoveries). By including foreign scheme records the total is increased to 2,620,282 records
Birds of the Bloemfontein pentad 2905_2610: a review over a 30 year period
Get PDFThe Bloemfontein pentad (2905_2610) is one of the nine pentads of the 2926AA quarter degree square used during the SABAP1 survey (1987 -1992) (see Harrison et. al 1992). Before SABAP1, Roos et. al (1985a, b, c) published a series of annotated checklists of the Bloemfontein district based on surveys by the ?Orange Free State Ornithological Society? (now BirdLife Free State) in Mirafra, which also includes the central parts of the city. After SABAP1, Kopij (2001) did several bird counts in the Bloemfontein area (references in Kopij 2001) including an annotated checklist of Navil Hill (Franklins Nature Reserve), and other bird surveys, which were all annotated in a \"Atlas of birds of Bloemfontein\"; he summarized data over a period between July 1993 to June 1998 (dates correct). Anecdotal bird observations of Bloemfontein birds were mostly published in Mirafra under \"sightings of interest\" or as short snippets. These include the first report dates of birds such as Common Starling, Indian Myna, Black-collared Barbet and other bird species. The birds of the 2900_2610 pentad (which includes the Free State National Botanical Gardens and Seven Dams area) were published earlier (de Swardt 2014)