UCT Open Access Journals (Univ. of Cape Town)
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Peregrine Falcon attempting to take prey from sea surface
No full textPeregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) are known to forage at sea, taking small seabird species such as prions (Pachyptila sp) or diving petrels (Pelecanoides sp) by catching them in flight (Marchant & Higgins 1993; Hockey et al. 2005). Here I report on an attempt by two Peregrine Falcons to retrieve an item of prey (a Red-eyed Dove Streptopelia semitorquata) from the surface of the sea
When a Hamerkop and Yellow-billed Kites fight for a Guttural Toad
Get PDFAfter several minutes of being persistently chased by the kites, the Hamerkop dropped the amphibian on the sand. One of the Yellow billed Kites immediately dived down to the toad, grabbed it in its bill and both birds flew off out of sight. This behaviour is described by Iyengar (2008) as kleptoparasitism, literally "parasitism by theft"
Close escape: Cape Cormorant entangled by sack
No full textThis short note continues a theme initiated by Oschadleus (2012), who reviewed the deaths of weavers entangled with the threads of discarded fabric woven into nests, and continued by Robinson et al (2012) who reported on the death of a Bank Cormorant Phalacrocorax neglectus chick entangled by nylon fishing line which its parents had incorporated into its nest on Robben Island. The incident reported here took place on Dyer Island, Western Cape, South Africa ? this island is one of South Africa's breeding platforms for seabirds. It is a CapeNature reserve and was selected as an Important Bird Area (Barnes 1999)
Courtship of the Green-backed Camaroptera Camaroptera brachyura.
Get PDFThe Green-backed Camaroptera Camaroptera brachyura is a relatively common bird, but because it is a fairly secretive skulker in thickets and riverine bush in moist savannah woodland (Dean 2005) it is usually located by its "bleating" alarm call. Although the Green-backed Camaroptera and the closely related Grey-backed Camaroptera Camaroptera brevicaudata have an extremely large range and a population that is estimated to be increasing (Birdlife International 2012), their courtship behaviour is seldom recorded. Dean (2005) states that "in display, male flies in loop over perch, wings making a whirring sound", citing GL Maclean's species account in Roberts' Birds of southern Africa (1993, 6th ed). Carnaby (2008) concurs that "in courtship display, the male flies or jumps with whirring wings in a 'loop flight' from his perch", possibly quoting from the same or a related source
2925BD Hagesdam - SABAP1 and SABAP2 compared
Get PDFDuncan McKenzie (McKenzie 2011) recently published a paper in which he compares reporting rates of SABAP1 and 2 data in the area of Nelspruit, Mpumalanga. This prompted me to do the same analysis on the reporting rates of birds in the 2925BD Hagesdam quarter degree grid cell (QDGC). Much of my field work since August 1988 was concentrated in this part of the Free State Province
Caught in the act II: Boomslang predation on Sabota Lark nest
Get PDFIt is well known that ground nesting birds suffer heavy nest losses. Predation is usually invoked as the main cause of breeding failure, but the identity of the predator is often a matter of conjecture. It is rather surprising that such an important aspect of the breeding ecology of birds is often reduced to one or two sentences speculating about the identity of the perpetrator. Since the 1990's technological advances in camera technology has provided ecologists with the opportunity to study nesting behaviour and predation free from biases associated with opportunistic field observations, e.g. time of day or detectability of predators (Ribic et al. 2012)
Second Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2): Progress report to 6 December 2012
Get PDFThe Second Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2) (http://sabap2.adu.org.za) started in July 2007, and by early December 2012 had been running for nearly five and a half years. The project has been managed through six-monthly meetings of the SABAP2 Steering Committee, and each of these meetings has received a progress report. This paper is based on the report made to the Steering Committee at its meeting on 6 December 2012
Unusual foraging behaviour of African Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone viridis plumbeiceps
No full textThe birds sat either on very low rocks or on the ground. The birds proceeded to hawk very small unidentified insects by making short sallies from their perches usually at very low altitude..
Eyewitness report: Crested Barbet chicks killed by Lesser Honeyguides
Get PDFWe have recently had the opportunity of installing a CCTV (closed circuit television) camera in a Crested Barbet Trachyphonus vaillantii nest, only to observe what is believed to be astonishing and possibly previously unreported behaviour involving Lesser Honeyguides Indicator minor
Clowning crows: Pied Crows at play?
Get PDFOn Sunday 2 September 2012, a colleague and I were travelling on the N1 in vicinity of Three Sisters near Beaufort West towards Cape Town. We came across what appeared to be a Pied Crow Corvus albus hanging upside down from a telephone wire about 20 m from the roadside. We turned our vehicle around to go back and take a photograph and try to ascertain how the bird had died. However, as we pulled up to the crow, it dropped off the line and flew away. It had something small in its bill as it flew off