Hybridisation has been record-ed among about 10 per cent of bird species, but the incidence varies among groups (Grant and Grant 1992). It is particularly common among ducks, where more than 40 per cent of species have been recorded as hybridising with other ducks. Hybrids have even been reported among distantly related species, such as the particularly scary combination of an Egyptian Goose x Mallard. Other families with a high frequency of hybridisation include the gamebirds (22 per cent) and hummingbirds (19 per cent).
Among the sunbirds and spiderhunters (Nectariniidae), hybrids have been recorded between 15 of the 145 species recognised by the IOC list (Murphy 2006), close to the average across all birds. Most records are among members of the highly speciose genus Cinnyris (eight of 56 species), especially among the confusing double-collared sunbird complex. However, the genus with the highest incidence is Chalcomitra, where five of seven species have been recorded as hybridising and hybrids have been recorded among two of seven Cyanomitra species. There have been no records among several other large genera, such as Aethopyga (22 species), Anthreptes (14 species) and Arachnothera (13 species).
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Esta historia es de la edición January - February 2020 de 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.
