Mount Moco, one of Angola’s most important biodiversity strongholds, has officially been granted legal protection following the publication of Law No. 5/26 in the Diário da República (the Angolan Government’s Official Gazette) on 9 April 2026. The legislation establishes the Mount Moco Conservation Area as a Partial Nature Reserve, marking a landmark moment for conservation in Angola. Feature image: Swierstra’s Francolin, endemic...

Holding the Line 1 May – There is a quiet thread running through this issue: a story of change, human pressure, and the ways birds and the people who follow them respond. We begin deep in time exploring with Birgette Cohen, discovering how early humans shaped our relationship with birds as both sustenance, and perhaps...

Image by PETER-JOHN WELCOME, text by FAYE KNIGHT As we reach the start of the first quarter of the year, April brings a new bird of the month, the Black-collared Barbet, photographed by Peter-John Welcome. With their distinctive red face and broad black collar, this chunky, medium sized barbet is native to the diverse landscapes of sub-Saharan...

9 April 2026 Velddrif, Western Cape, South Africa – A ground-breaking research initiative by BirdLife South Africa is set to uncover the remarkable journeys of migratory shorebirds by deploying tracking devices on these species – a first for the country. The project focuses on tagging, colour-ringing, and monitoring species such as Curlew Sandpipers (Calidris ferruginea)...

Into the Blue is a powerful short documentary by Richard Flack that traces the fragile future of one of South Africa’s rarest birds, the Blue Swallow. What began as a simple day of filming at Roselands Nature Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal evolved into an 18-month, no-budget project driven by passion, persistence and a shared urgency to tell...

Image by MANFRED SUTER, text by FAYE KNIGHT March has quickly snuck up on us which means the bird of the month is here! The Pennant-Winged Nightjar, a jewel in the crown for SA birders, is the featured bird for the month of March in Birdlife’s calendar photographed by Manfred Suter.  The pennant-winged nightjar acquires its name...

By John Kinghorn, Avitourism Project Manager, BirdLife South AfricaFor many people, birding and tracking seem to belong to two entirely different worlds. Birders are often imagined by others with binoculars pointed skyward, scanning treetops for flashes of movement and bright colours, so fixated on their target that they seemingly disconnect from their surroundings entirely. Trackers,...

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,...

3 March – Little Egret, by Gouadjelia Tarek. Each day we scour Birdlife South Africa’s social media community, and submissions from photographers, to find the Photo of the Day. Sometimes we don’t find a winner, but thanks to the talent of the birding community we usually do! Got a snap that’s so good it might...

27 February – As I write this, the waters have subsided in Kruger National Park after double the seasonal average rainfall caused widespread infrastructure damage and the temporary closure of several camps. Among them was Return Africa’s Pafuri Camp, set on the banks of the Luvuvhu River. Thankfully they will reopen on 1 June after...