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• An Introduction to Birding

Birding Index: Facts and Resources

Considering that a Martial Eagle can take on prey heavier than 30kg, it's no surprise that isolated incidents are reported of the large African birds of prey attempting to seize children in the fields near rural homesteads.

The philosopher Julian Huxley believed that birds are, in many ways, more highly evolved than us. They symbolise freedom. We can admire and envy the way their wings lift them beyond the baggage that goes with our bigger brains.

Birds are intriguing - they keep us alive to the mysteries of the universe. How do they navigate during migration routes of thousands of kilometres?

How does the Lesser Spotted Eagle from Eurasia time its arrival in Kruger with the first summer rains? How does the Amur Falcon* know when and where to begin congregating with its fellow travellers for its return flight to Russia after the last summer rains, and how exactly does it get home - its migration route to southern Africa is well documented but nobody seems to have seen it fly back!

Why does a Fork-tailed Drongo attack an African Cuckoo whenever it comes too close, but is unable to resist raising that cuckoo's chick as one of its own - even when it murders its own offspring? And while we're on cuckoos - what makes the Diderick Cuckoo use the Lesser Masked-Weaver as a foster parent, while the Black Cuckoo prefers the Southern Black Flycatcher, amongst others (see Cuckoos - Nature's bad mothers)?

Another unanswered question is why White-crowned Lapwing have never been seen on the Letaba River while they are common on the nearby Olifants and on all other rivers in the north. It is no surprise that birds are so deeply embedded in the folklore of every culture in the world. In Africa we have a rich bird mythology with one of the dominant themes being their role as messengers between the worlds of the living and the dead.

For thousands of years, birds have been used by traditional healers who are guided by ancestral spirits in curing the sick or casting spells. Vulture parts in particular are in demand. They have a strong association with death and dreams, and more frivolously, vulture muthi is reputed to help the gambler pick the winning horse at the races. Conservationists are concerned that some species - like the Southern Ground-hornbill - may be pushed into extinction because of their mythical potency. Traditional healers argue that it's not in their interests to allow this to happen. Have a more in-depth look birds and muthi.

One of the pleasures of birding in Kruger on a regular basis is the shifting relationship between the familiar and the strange. One depends on the visual affirmation of the Bateleur to know one is in Kruger. It's taken for granted that the Tshokwane-Satara Road (H1-3) will be teeming with Lilac-breasted Rollers and Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills.

However, one never knows just what is around the next corner.

There is always the possibility of seeing something unusual, or out of place - like the incongruous sight of a Sooty Tern photographed near Satara, thousands of kilometres away from its home on the East African coast and Indian Ocean islands.

The balance between the expected and the unexpected is influenced mostly by climatic cycles which affect the availability of food. During a particularly dry or wet year there may be a noticeable influx of species not commonly found in Kruger.

Then there's the excitement of the rare sighting as opposed to the unusual sighting. Among the rarest birds in Kruger is the African Pitta* - the only verified sighting of which has so far been on the Letaba River, but it may also occur along the Luvuvhu River in the north.