Raptor biologists comprise a discipline renowned for the dedication of its disciples and Andrew Jenkins is a beacon among even the brightest.
He is an accomplished academic with a lengthy track record in research and student supervision. His influence outside the ‘ivory tower’ is even more impressive and locally he is the preeminent avian specialist in the hard-nosed world of environmental consulting. Less well appreciated is his generosity in lending his expertise to a wide range of raptor conservation causes, essentially pro bono. Andrew also has that rare ability to translate his craft into compelling popular accounts. His photos frequently enliven his writing and his iconic portrait of a Peregrine Falcon contemplating urban Cape Town from the summit of Table Mountain is unforgettable.
Birds of prey have been Andrew’s passion since boyhood. A precocious talent, he was publishing on Verreaux’s Eagles in the Magaliesberg while still a schoolboy. Based at the FitzPatrick Institute, in 1989 he initiated an ambitious study that resulted in his PhD on Peregrine and Lanner falcons. His demographic analysis of the Cape Peninsula Peregrine population continues to this day as one of the longest-running raptor investigations in the world. He’s now a global expert on this cosmopolitan species, so don’t waste time asking what his favourite bird is!
Bu hikaye African Birdlife dergisinin July - August 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye African Birdlife dergisinin July - August 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
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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.
