Common Waxbill (Estrilda astrild)
Identification Common Waxbills are small greyish-brown birds. This species is not sexually dimorphic; males females look the same. Overall, the Common Waxbill i...
Author: Karis Daniel
Karis Daniel has been fascinated by birds since she was young, but while she was at university they became a passion. On a study abroad programme in South Africa, she was captivated by the diversity and abundance of bird life she encountered, and ultimately found herself drawn back to study them further. She completed her undergraduate studies at Wilson College in Pennsylvania. In 2017, she also received the opportunity to study wildlife ecology and conservation at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, where she completed her honours research and developed a focus on conservation science. Karis is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Cape Town.
Cape Canary (Serinus canicollis)
Cape Canaries are small, brightly-coloured birds. Males and females can be difficult to tell apart; you must look closely!
Cape White-eye (Zosterops virens)
The Cape White-eye is a very small, fast-moving bird. Males and females look alike but show geographic variation. This term means that one species can look diff...
Pin-tailed Whydah (Vidua macroura)
Identification The Pin-tailed Whydah is a small sexually dimorphic species. Males and females differ dramatically when breeding, and appear similar outside of t...
Red-winged Starling (Onychognathus morio)
Cover photo: BirdPix 19074 – Gregg Darling – Red-winged Starling Identification The Red-winged Starling is a large, black bird with striking reddish...
Garden Ecology: Colonisation and Succession
Good afternoon, naturalists! Time for an update on Operation Feed the Birds, and a few new insights into garden ecology. Let’s begin with the birds. ...
Cape Sparrow (Passer melanurus)
Identification The Cape Sparrow is a small, boldly patterned bird which is sexually dimorphic; in other words, males and females look different to one another. ...
Feeders and feathers and fear-scapes…oh my!
Just two weeks ago, armed with my backpack, camera, and a box of well-loved field guides, I bade farewell to my beloved flat in Cape Town and opened the door to...
BirdPix on a run in 2021
BirdPix is important because it is going to be used to test whether “species distribution models” can be used to generate maps that look like the bi...
Biodiversity/Citizen Science/Karoo/LepiMAP/MammalMAP/OdonataMAP/Site report/Trip report/Virtual Museum
Boegoeberg Dam BioBash: Where Kalahari Meets Karoo
The interface of Kalahari and Karoo is a study in contrasts: red sands and blue skies; dry earth and flowing river; bustling weaver colonies and deserted towns....