Cooperatively breeding weavers
There are 19 species of weavers that are thought to be cooperative breeders. In some species, this has been well studied, eg. White-browed Sparrow...
Author: Dieter
Dieter is a qualified Bird Ringer and trainer, registered bird guide, and Weaver expert. Dieter is able to act as a bird guide for day trips in Cape Town, and is able to customise birds tours in South Africa and beyond.
Indian Peafowl, Vondeling, 9/06/2023
We had to work hard to catch this peafowl! We put large mesh nets near the grove of oak trees where a large number of peafowl roost each night. These birds are ...
Weaver nests with long entrance tubes
Several weaver species regularly build nests with long entrance tubes, see list below. Note that occasionally a nest is started and the tube not finished to f...
House Sparrows, Vanrhynsdorp, 19/11/2024
We were surprised to catch 11 House Sparrows in our nets during normal ringing at the VRD sewage works. This was the second highest species total for this morni...
Eurasian Golden Oriole, Vanrhynsdorp, 30/06/2023
Very unexpectedly a Eurasian Golden Oriole was found in a net at Botuin near a fig tree. This oriole is a migrant species, breeding in the northern hemisphere. ...
Spotted Eagle Owl, Vondeling, 10/06/2023
Early one morning, before sunrise, this adult Spotted Eagle Owl flew into a large mesh net, even though this net was fairly low. This individual ...
European Bee-eater, Vanrhynsdorp, 25/01/2020
The first European Bee-eaters I ringed were a complete surprise. During normal ringing at Botuin, a juvenile was found in a net below a telephone line in...
Sickle-winged Chat, Vanrhynsdorp, 2/07/2023
On our recent Botuin course we caught two Sickle-winged Chats in the karoo veld outside Vanrhynsdorp. The first one was caught in a spring trap and the second i...
Burchell’s Courser, New Holme, 6/09/2023
On a New Holme ringing course we caught one of a pair of Burchell’s Coursers in the karoo veld on the farm. I had placed a spring trap near a termite mo...
Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush, Kakoma, Zambia, 3/10/2023
On a recent Zambia ringing expedition we caught a Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush Stizorhina fraseri in the forest on the banks of the West Lunga River. This ap...