When you next see a European Bee-eater, don’t assume that it’s from western or central Europe or if it speaks French or Spanish, because it probably doesn’t! Some interesting results were posted on Facebook presenting migratory patterns. The birds that breed in western Europe migrate to West Africa and those that migrate to eastern southern African,...
By Hugh Chittenden – Welcome to the world of weird things, trichoptiles, the strange hair-like protrusions on newly hatched coucal chicks. I’ve been trying to get my head around the function of coucal trichoptiles. Being almost ground level breeders, two of the main predators of coucal chicks would be mongoose and snakes. But those spiky white wire-like protrusions may...
By Hugh Chittenden This note deals with one of the most interesting aspects of Korhaan biology which is their habit of using throat feathers in display, especially while calling. The ‘black’ Korhaans are better known for their aerial cruises while calling and are not included here. The throat patches of the four species included in...
Appeal to fishermen to not discard fishing line. The discovery of an entangled Water Thick-knee at the end of July 2025 on the beach at Mtunzini (KZN) has prompted me to once again appeal to fishermen to be careful and not to discard fishing line, or to at least pick up and remove any line that they may...
Ever wondered why flufftails are called ‘flufftails’? It’s somewhat of an odd name for a family group, because not all flufftails have wispy, decomposed, fluffy tail feathers! Admittedly though, as a family group, they do have much softer tail feathers than most non-passerines. Of the four species that occur in South Africa, Red-chested definitely wins...
Fiery-necked Nightjar At a guess I’d say that about three quarters of birders in the region, wouldn’t ID with certainty, a Fiery-necked Nightjar 20 – 30 m away – assuming no nightjars were calling of course. They are not entirely to blame for this! Nightjars are a tough group, and historically, illustrations in publications haven’t...
Vultures don’t always have the luxury of feeding on freshly killed carcasses! During the hot summer months, carcasses tend to decompose very rapidly which means that these birds have to contend with a meal that is in the state of decay. Juveniles searching for food remains at a decaying zebra carcass. As long as there...
During a trip to Kruger National Park in 2024, my wife and I spotted a Common Myna feeding what appeared to be a Great Spotted Cuckoo. We were so surprised we forgot to take a photo. I was reminded about the concern that this alien species invading KNP. I thought at least cuckoos were helping...
A small but interesting point when it comes to sunbird prey. Sunbirds, when feeding, always insert their bills right to the back of their chicks throats. Most birds with shortish bills simply ‘drop’ food items into the wide open gape of chicks – as seen below with this Eastern Nicator. …. and with this Sombre...
