Ethiopia and, more recently, South Africa are the only two countries where the species is known to breed, and there is only one confirmed site in South Africa: Middelpunt Wetland.
A White-winged Flufftail seen at Middelpunt Wetland in 1992 was the first of the species to have been recorded in South Africa after an absence of many years. Following this lucky sighting, Deon Coetzee, Dr Warwick Tarboton and Malcolm Drummond were concerned about the condition of the wetland and engaged with the owner, Michael Jansen, to rehabilitate and conserve it. A lease was eventually signed in 1994 and Middelpunt Wetland Trust was formed as the vehicle through which efforts to restore and protect the wetland could be achieved.
The following year the trust filled in five kilometres of artificial drainage channels and thus improved the condition of the wetland. In 2002, Dullstroom Trout Farm purchased the farm portion that contains most of Middelpunt Wetland to protect the main catchment area for its trout dams directly downstream. Its aim was also to safeguard the White-winged Flufftail and its habitat.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January/February 2023-Ausgabe von African Birdlife.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January/February 2023-Ausgabe von African Birdlife.
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EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
