White-breasted Cormorant (Phalocrocorax lucidus)
Identification In theory, the White-breasted Cormorant is an easy species to identify (but there are imposters, see later). In adults the top half of the front ...
Author: Les Underhill
Prof Les Underhill was Director of the Animal Demography Unit (ADU) at the University of Cape Town from its start in 1991 until he retired. Although citizen science in biology is Les’s passion, his academic background is in mathematical statistics. He was awarded his PhD in abstract multivariate analyses in 1973 at UCT and what he likes to say about his PhD is that he solved a problem that no one has ever had. He soon grasped that this was not the field to which he wanted to devote his life, so he retrained himself as an applied statistician, solving real-world problems.
Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus)
Identification Deciding that the bird you are looking at is an adult Kelp Gull is one of the easiest identification challenges: white head and body, black back ...
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)
Identification In the interior of South Africa, almost any gull which at first glance looks like a Kelp Gull (white head and body, black back and wings) is most...
The value of bird ringing to research and conservation
What do we learn from bird ringing? The first, quick and obvious answer is that ringing helps us understand movement patterns of birds. The more subtle answer i...
Hartlaub’s Gull (Chroicocephalus hartlaubii)
Identification If you are in the Western Cape, and the seagull has grey wings, then with safety** you can call it a Hartlaub’s Gull. If the back is black,...
Migration in a time of war: through the battle zone
During late-April and May, Curlew Sandpipers, and lots of other migrant waders, will be migrating through Ukraine. They will be joined by many passerine migrant...
Climate in Africa influences timing of migration of Willow Warblers in Poland
Since the 1980s, many migrant birds have arrived increasingly earlier in Europe in the northern hemisphere spring (March-April-May). This has often been attribu...
Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
The Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus breeds in Europe and Asia. Most move south for the northern winter. Most remain in soutern Europe, some migrate...
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
The Little Egret Egretta garzetta belongs to a large family of birds called the Ardeidae, the herons, the egrets and the bitterns. The herons are, on average, l...
Birds on the coastline of the Western Cape
The focus here is on learning the really common birds which you can expect to see on the coastline in the Western Cape. These are the species you are most likel...