Drinking techniques of Pink-backed Pelican
THE HUGE BIRD launched itself off the top of a thicket of Gomoti figs and dropped low over the water as it gained speed, heading towards us. As it approached it stopped flapping its wings and, gliding in smoothly to within centimetres of the glassy surface, opened its huge bill a fraction and dipped it into the water, resembling an over-sized skimmer.
But this was no skimmer – it was an adult Pink-backed Pelican Pelecanus rufescens. We watched in amazement as the pouch in its huge lower mandible instantly filled with water and the bird’s head was whipped back under its body. At that point it laboriously regained its normal flying position, water spilling from its pouch, then tilted its head to the sky and gulped down most of the liquid.
Ali and I looked at each other in amazement and she exclaimed, ‘Did you see that? How on earth did it not break its neck?’
IT WAS LATE October 2012 and at the request of Ker & Downey Bo tswana we were conducting a census of the Kanana heronry, one of southern Africa’s largest heronries and a breeding site for a wide diversity of other birds, located in their concession area in a fairly remote part of the central Okavango Delta. We had been trying to accurately count a large group of nesting Pink-backed Pelicans and their juveniles when we first saw this method of drinking which, to our knowledge, has not previously been recorded.
Initially we assumed that it was probably an isolated instance of a display by one particular individual and that after experiencing some kind of painful whiplash it would not repeat the attempt. However, as we continued the count we were amazed to see the behaviour performed by other pelicans in the heronry.
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Denne historien er fra November - December 2016-utgaven av 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.
