Out-birding the birds of the miombo
The miombo woodlands stretch north from southern Zimbabwe and Mozambique and blanket Zambia, Malawi and much of Angola, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their birds include several wily specialists that have learnt all the tricks of survival in an environment that has been burnt, hunted and farmed by man for tens of thousands of years. The elusiveness of these birds, their tendency to forage in concentrated multi-species parties and their remarkably skilful use of cover can make for a birding experience that is challenging to say the least, but also intensely rewarding when patience and skill pay off.
Something of a miombo endemic myself, I started exploring the Zimbabwean bush before I could walk properly (my dog used to drag me around) and continue in much the same vein as a birding guide in Zambia and neighbouring countries. As a birder, and more recently a photographer, my chief aim has been to get to know my subjects more closely and although I’ve birded with some of the legends of the game, no one’s taught me more valuable lessons in this than the birds themselves. The borrowing of their tricks has given rise to certain rather eccentric behaviours and might best be described as a shift from birding to outbirding the birds.
Esta historia es de la edición May/June 2018 de African Birdlife.
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Esta historia es de la edición May/June 2018 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.
