Yet despite being able to enjoy such fantastic sightings on our doorstep, a rather ordinary, often-overlooked bird stole centre stage recently.
Fiscal Flycatchers have been resident in our garden for as long as I can remember, with their all-seeing dark brown eyes, their fondness for conspicuous perches and an occasional willingness to show offtheir speckled brown fledglings. But early in November last year, the continual wing-fluttering of the male flycatcher made me realise something was wrong. A closer inspection revealed that his right leg was damaged and the foot twisted outwards. I watched as he struggled to cope, using his right wing to balance and gain leverage when taking off. Some weeks later, the hapless bird had lost the whole leg and only a stump remained.
This story is from the September/October 2022 edition of African Birdlife.
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This story is from the September/October 2022 edition of African Birdlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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.
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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.
