Climbing Karoo koppies
African Birdlife|May/June 2023
Known for its endless plains and occasional hills, or koppies, the Karoo is an arid ecosystem inhabited by plants and animals adapted to unpredictable desert conditions.
DR ALAN LEE
Climbing Karoo koppies

Among its cinnamon hues are hidden diverse habitats, each hosting a different set of species. Landscape features can be obvious: a dam will have South African Shelducks and Pied Avocets, trees around farmsteads will host Gabar Goshawks and Hadeda Ibises. But even the seemingly monotonous plains have tweaks in their composition of grass, rocks and bushes that make them favoured by nomadic granivores such as Grey-backed and Black-eared sparrow-larks or by Tractrac Chat and Sclater's Lark.

Koppies often, but not always, flat-topped can be seen from miles away and are important habitats for many species, providing refuges and breeding sites. They are also culturally significant to the indigenous people of the region, as borne out by engravings on the dolerite - boulders strewn at their tops. Although imposing from a distance, they are rarely more than 300 metres high and many of the more accessible ones have a pile of rocks, a beacon, a cross, even a hidden bible on top.

Denne historien er fra May/June 2023-utgaven av African Birdlife.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra May/June 2023-utgaven av African Birdlife.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA AFRICAN BIRDLIFESe alt
EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
African Birdlife

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.

time-read
5 mins  |
May/June 2024
footloose IN FYNBOS
African Birdlife

footloose IN FYNBOS

The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.

time-read
6 mins  |
May/June 2024
Living forwards
African Birdlife

Living forwards

How photographing birds helps me face adversity

time-read
10 mins  |
May/June 2024
CAPE crusade
African Birdlife

CAPE crusade

The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge

time-read
5 mins  |
May/June 2024
water & WINGS
African Birdlife

water & WINGS

WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.

time-read
1 min  |
May/June 2024
winter wanderer
African Birdlife

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.

time-read
1 min  |
May/June 2024
when perfect isn't enough
African Birdlife

when perfect isn't enough

Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race

time-read
5 mins  |
May/June 2024
Southern SIGHTINGS
African Birdlife

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.

time-read
4 mins  |
May/June 2024
flood impact on wetland birds
African Birdlife

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.

time-read
5 mins  |
May/June 2024
a star is born
African Birdlife

a star is born

It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.

time-read
2 mins  |
May/June 2024