News
We are pleased to inform you that a new FREE birding App BIRDS of AFRICA is available to download from both the Google Play Store and Apple Store. This first version of the App includes all 972 bird species on the checklists of Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana.
The App contains a wealth of detail including photographs, songs and calls, text and maps. It is primarily a field identification guide which includes the capability to record and upload sightings to a central database as well as allowing the user to maintain personal checklists.
Gabela Helmetshrike Prionops gabela is an endangered bird found only in western Angola. In November 2019 the first known nest of this bird was found by Arnon Dattner, near the community of Santa Ambuleia in north-western Angola. The nest, as well as the 5 territories of Gabela Helmetshrike found near the community, were protected by local bird-watching guides who worked with the local population to prevent fires, logging or hunting at these territories.
White-headed Robin Chat is an African endangered bird, known only from two sites worldwide: one site is in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the other is near the community of Kinjila in northern Angola. Although the first nest of this special bird was found by Pedro Vaz Pinto and Ian Sinclair in 2005, there was no documentation of the nest. This nest, found by Arnon Dattner, was protected by a group of local birdwatching guides who act to conserve the forests and the birds around the community of Kinjila.
The 1st edition (1994) went out of print and was commanding high prices for copies online. A reprint was produced a few years ago but the superb image quality of the 1st edition was drastically diminished. This 2nd edition (2020) fully revises the text, restores the spectacular image quality, and adds 16 new species, bringing the total to 74.
Françoise Dowsett-Lemaire and Robert J. Dowsett have kindly provided 10 ornithological reports for use on this website. These reports are summaries of their travels to Benin and Togo and can be found at Benin/references and Togo/references. You will find a wealth of detail relating to habitats, locations, sightings and checklists. The reports are written in French, and some in English with a French summary.
A new organisation called the Madagascar Birding Association (MBA) has been founded to promote the protection and preservation of Madagascar’s birds, among other goals. MBA has since produced the first ever bird field guide in the Malagasy language with the collaboration of a local partner. It is entitled “Ny Vorontsika eto Madagasikara” – Our Birds in Madagascar. You can find more about MBA and its activities at www.madagascarbirding.org.
On the small island of Príncipe in the Gulf of Guinea, a community beekeeping project is empowering communities to obtain honey in a way that doesn't risk their lives. This initiative is already restoring forests and enriching livelihoods.
Traditionally, honey collectors on Príncipe Island extracted honey from wild colonies found in the forest by burning their nests. Not only does this method kill most of the bees and risk starting forest fires, but it is also dangerous for the honey collectors themselves, who must scale tall trees with minimal safety equipment.
BirdLife Botswana (BirdLife Partner) is unequivocally condemning the recent poisoning of 537 highly endangered vultures by elephant poachers in the Central District of Botswana. This devastating incident has resulted in the country’s highest recorded death toll of vultures associated with a single poisoning incident and is one of the worst killings of vultures on the continent, rivaling a similar incident in the Caprivi area of Namibia in 2013, where between 400-600 vultures were killed.
Every year hundreds of thousands of seabirds die as bycatch in fishing gear. BirdLife is joining a call to reduce this number by enforcing mitigation measures through observer coverage. You can join the campaign by signing the petition here.
Djebel Babor forest in Northern Algeria was a National Park for 60 years before being stripped of its status. Now, despite political upheaval, the hard work of conservationists has paid off once again.
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