Ring-necked Dove (Streptopelia capicola)
Identification The Ring-necked Dove, also known as the Cape Turtle Dove, is a very common bird species that occurs all over South Africa. It can be identified b...
Tag: Birds
Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)
Identification The Egyptian Goose is not actually a goose, but a shelduck. It has many characteristics of a duck, but also some external traits of a goose. Egyp...
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...
Cape Canary (Serinus canicollis)
Cape Canaries are small, brightly-coloured birds. Males and females can be difficult to tell apart; you must look closely!
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...
Southern Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus)
Identification The Southern Masked Weaver is a medium-sized, brightly coloured bird. Males and females look similar outside of the breeding season but are easil...
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. ...
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...
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...