10 Years Of The Hot Birds Project
African Birdlife|November 2019
In mid-2009, the late Phil Hockey – then director of the Fitztitute – and Andrew McKechnie of the University of Pretoria (UP) spent two days in Phil’s office developing a research programme focusing on desert birds and climate change.
Andrew Mckechnie & Susie Cunningham
10 Years Of The Hot Birds Project

Our first field season during the summer of that year involved a team of three researchers based at Tswalu Kalahari Reserve: Fitztitute postdoctoral fellows Susie Cunningham and Rowan Martin and UP doctoral student Ben Smit. In the 10 years since, the Hot Birds Research Programme (HBRP) has grown into a team of about 20 people based at the Fitztitute, UP, National Zoological Garden and Rhodes University, with a network of collaborators spanning several overseas universities.

During the HBRP’s first decade, we have learnt much about how higher temperatures affect desert birds. Small birds face a significant risk of lethal dehydration on very hot days; evaporating water to lose heat, often by panting, is the only way birds can avoid lethal heat stress. In extremely hot weather, small birds can die of dehydration in a matter of hours.

In the intensely hot deserts of the American south-west and the interior of Australia, climate change is producing conditions under which catastrophic mortality events involving thousands – occasionally millions – of birds will occur far more often than in the past. Some range-restricted Australian species could be driven to extinction within a matter of days in extreme heatwaves. If this sounds alarmist, consider that Australia lost one third of its entire population of a flying-fox species in just two days of extreme heat late last year.

Bu hikaye African Birdlife dergisinin November 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye African Birdlife dergisinin November 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

AFRICAN BIRDLIFE DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
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 dak  |
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 dak  |
May/June 2024
Living forwards
African Birdlife

Living forwards

How photographing birds helps me face adversity

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

CAPE crusade

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

time-read
5 dak  |
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 dak  |
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 dak  |
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 dak  |
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 dak  |
May/June 2024