Birds of Botswana

By Peter Hancock & Ingrid Weiersbye

Here is the ultimate field guide to Botswana’s stunningly diverse birdlife. Covering all 597 species recorded to date, Birds of Botswana features more than 1,200 superb color illustrations, detailed species accounts, seasonality and breeding bars, and a color distribution map for each species. Drawing on the latest regional and national data, the book highlights the best birding areas in Botswana, provides helpful tips on where and when to see key species, and depicts special races and morphs specific to Botswana. This is the first birding guide written by a Botswana-based ornithologist and the only one dedicated specifically to Botswana.

Portable and easy to use, Birds of Botswana is the essential travel companion for anyone visiting this remarkable country.

• Covers all 597 species of birds found in Botswana, including subspecies and color variants specific to Botswana
•  Features more than 1,200 color illustrations—with more than one illustration for species where the sexes and ages differ
•  Includes detailed species accounts, seasonality and breeding bars, and color distribution maps
• Draws on the latest bird data and the expertise of leading birders in Botswana 

A copy of the book is available in the library!!

Why Africa's Vultures Are "Collapsing Toward Extinction"

A demand for vulture parts in witchcraft, as well as poisoning and urbanization, has caused a nearly 90 percent decline in the scavengers' populations.

Across Africa, vultures are electrocuted by power lines or crushed by wind turbines. Their brains are ground to snuff by witch doctors who believe the substance has magical powers. They die after eating  pesticide-laced carcasses intended for lions and other predators.

As a result, vulture populations are plummeting.

Africa's eight vulture species have declined in number by an average of 62 percent during the last 30 years, according to the first estimates of a continent-wide decline in the large birds. Six of those species would likely be considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Read more: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150731-vultures-africa-birds-animals-science/

Working together to conserve vultures in Botswana

In this article, Peter Hancock from Birdlife Botswana maintains that the seven vulture species found in Botswana are under serious threat from poisoning. Recent incidents of this poisoning have been reported in place like Lesoma, Gumare, Tonota and Gweta-to name just a few places. In some cases, according to the author, the birds are being poisoned unintentionally when livestock farmers unlawfully put poison into the carcase of an animal killed by a problem predator. By doing so, the farmers hope to kill the predator but instead annihilate large numbers of vultures who arrive at the poisoned carcase long before the predators. In other instances, poachers of wildlife deliberately target vultures with poison because of their ability to detect any wild animals. Lastly, some also try to poison vultures for traditional medicine. In conclusion, the author concludes says that vultures not only do vultures have an important role in the ecosystem (, in that they clean up carcases of dead animals and thereby limit the spread of diseases), but they are an integral part of the the Tswana culture and tradition.

Log leader

Visit to Mark Muller’s dream bird garden in Maun, Botswana. Over 30 years he has transformed a barren, sparsely treed plot into a paradise in which he has recorded 29species of birds breeding. This interesting article is found in the latest edition of Africa Birds and Birding available in the ORI Library.

Vulture Awareness Day

The International Vulture Awareness Day to be held on September 3 this year is jointly organised by the Birds of Prey Working Group in South Africa and the Hawk Conservancy Trust in England. This day is set aside to publicise the conservation of vultures to a wider audience and highlight the important work being carried out by vulture conservationists. In Botswana, the Mannyelanong Game Reserve was established to protect the Cape Vulture colony living there. In Setswana, mannyelanong means "where vultures make their droppings and these birds are fully protected under the laws of Botswana. Cape vultures have nested in this area for hundreds of years but in the last 40 years or so, their numbers have diminished considerably and in the late 1960s. The current Cape vulture population in Botswana is approximately 600 birds, with the global population estimated at 8 000.

Focus on threatened birds

In summer, Southern African (mainly Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa), is home to most of the population of the Black-winged Pratincole, Glareola nordmanni. However, just how many breeding birds remain is unclear. In the early 2000s, the most pessimistic estimate was approximately 15 000 pairs: this has now being revised upwards to between 68 000 and 90 000 pairs. Whatever the true population size, there seems little doubt that this pratincole has undergone a dramatic population decrease since the mid-1800s, to such an extent that it is now listed as globally near threatened. The cause of this decrease is thought to have been primarily the cultivation of this steppe breeding grounds, but this might not be the whole story. Full coverage of this report is available in the latest edition of Africa Birds & Birding in the ORI Library.

Bird counting in Botswana

Birds are considered very useful indicators of biodiversity and the state of the environment given their sensitive nature to environmental change. Birds if monitored can be used to report on the status of Botswana's biodiversity because they are able to show changes in the overall condition of of ecosystems or the environment. Birdlife Botswana has introduced a Bird Population Monitoring scheme designed to keep track of bird populations in Botswana. The scheme is aimed at providing information on year to year and longer-term changes in population levels for a wide range of birds across a variety of habitats throughout Botswana. The article is available in the latest issue of Conservation News Botswana in the ORI Library.

Conservation key sites

Although Important Bird Areas (IBAs) are identified using scientific criteria based on on the distribution of key bird species, they have also been shown to be important for plants and animals. They provide a "first cut" of the overall network of the most significant sites for biodiversity conservation around the world and are recognised as practical tools that enable us to concentrate efforts where there will be more effective. Birdlife International, a global partnership of of autonomous non-governmental conservation organisations active in over 100 countries has published a map showing the location and protection status of more than 10 000 of the most important sites for birds and biodiversity on the planet. This map also exposes gaps in the network of protected areas; although progress has recently been made in the declaration of the new IBAs, only 26% of the total number currently enjoys full legal protection. The full article is available in the latest Africa Birds and Birding in the ORI Library.

Birdlife's World Bird Festival in Botswana

The Birdlife Botswana (BLB) celebrated World Bird Festival with more than 70 pupils and five teachers at primary schools in Mogobane and Otse Villages. These schools are located in the surrounding important Bird Area (BA). Since 1993, the World Bird Festival has been celebrated biennially by the Birdlife African Partners. It is an important event for the Birdlife Africa Partnership to raise awareness and educate the general public about birds and their cultural, economic and ecological values and these activities are planned to help people realise their connection between birds and their lives. Activities were based around IBAs and other sites valuable for biodiversity, which support major ecological systems that sustain people's lives.

Makgadikgadi Pans Important Bird Area: monitoring report 2009

The report by G.McCulloch, P.Hancock, J.Soopu and L.Rutina, is part of Birdlife Botswana's commitment to maintaining a network of sites that are critical for birds, and Makgadikgadi Pans Important Bird Area (IBA) is monitored annually following Bird life's global monitoring framework. The first part of the report deals with the state of IBA with particular emphasis on the trigger species of birds that qualify the area as an IBA, whilst Part 2 focuses on threats or pressures to the IBA. In its conclusion, the report describes the conservation actions undertaken in response to the identified threats, and these actions are a measure of progress made towards addressing or mitigating the threats. The report is now available in the HOORC Library.

World Governments miss 2010 biodiversity target

According to this article, world leaders have not only failed to deliver commitments made in 2002 to reduce the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, but have instead overseen alarming biodiversity decline. According to Dr. Stuart Butchart of Birdlife International and the monitoring centre (UNEP-WCMC), the paper's lead author, " biodiversity is still being lost as fast as ever, and we have made little headway in reducing the pressure on species, habitats and ecosystems". Compiling over 30 indicators -measures of different aspects of biodiversity, including changes in species' populations and risk of extinction, the study found no evidence for a significant reduction in the rate of decline of biodiversity and the pressures facing biodiversity continue to increase. He goes on to say that 2010 will not be the year that biodiversity loss was halted, but the year in which the issue was taken seriously. More on this study is available in World Birdwatch journal in the HOORC Library.

Kori Bustard declining in Botswana

In this article published in the latest issue of Birdlife International journal "Africafrique", there are growing concerns that the population of Kori Bustard (Ardeotis Kori), one of the most well known birds in Botswana is seriously declining. This as a result of various threats but the most worrying one being poaching for sale. This bird is popular among the Batswana partly because of its huge frame and the fact that it is considered a delicacy reserved only for royalty, commonly refereed to as nonyane ya dikgosi (the bird of the king). The director of Birdlife, Botswana, Kabelo Senyatso added that because its numbers are greatly dwindling, they have listed the species as threatened. The journal is available in the HOORC library.

Birds and People newsletter

The latest Birds and People newsletter from Birdlife Botswana features stories about a proposed flamingo sanctuary in Sua Pan, IBA branding of national parks, studies in the Makgadikgadi, Birdlife's new avitourism book, Community Escort Guide training in Chobe National Park, and the proposed listing of the Okavango Delta as a World Heritage Site. You can find more details on the Birdlife Botswana site.

Africa Birds and Birding

In the latest issue of Africa Birds and Birding, Birdlife International 's latest evaluation of the world's birds has revealed that more species than ever are threatened with extinction. It has reported that one thousand two hundred and twenty seven species (1227) or 12%, are now classsified as globally threatened, but can be saved when conservation programmes like Birdlife Preventing Extinction Programme are put in place. Birdlife's Global Species programme, states that in Africa, widespread birds of prey are disappearing at an alarming rate, and emblemic species like the Martial Eagle Polemaetus have been uplisted as a result. For more on this article, visit the HOORC Library.

New in HOORC's Library: African vulture habitat

Lappet-faced vulture on nest in Namibia, from Birdlife Botswana, photographed by P. Bridgeford

Trade-offs between specificity and regional generality in habitat association models : a case study of two species of African vulture, an article in a recent issue of Journal of Applied Ecology draws on collaborative research from a team of researchers including Botswana's Wendy Borello and Pete Hancock. A case study of two vulture species from six biogeographically different regions across southern Africa predicted nest occurrence based on variables from a GIS, allowing the researchers to develop models of species distribution. The researchers discovered that it was most useful to develop models from multiple regions to allow focus on unsurveyed regions and to identify suitable habitat for protection. You can find the article in HOORC's Library.

New Birdlife Botswana publications

The latest issue of Babbler: journal of Birdlife Botswana has arrived in HOORC's Library. The March 2009 issue includes Waterbird Counts in Botswana from July 2006 by Stephanie J. Tyler, articles about monitoring of flamingoes by Graham McCulloch, reports about rarities in the Botswana Bird List and a list of recent publications about birds relevant to Botswana.

Another new publication from Birdlife Botswana, Monitoring manual for birds in Botswana by Motshereganyi Virat Kootsositse and Pete Hancock, is now available in HOORC's Library. The manual was developed for use in training Site Support groups and stakeholders involved in biodiversity monitoring in Important Bird Areas. It contains explanations of monitoring techniques and processes, including management of records.

KCS news

The December 2008 issue of the Kalahari Conservation Society (KCS)Newsletter has arrived in HOORC's Library, with articles about Botswana's ivory auction, the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Botswana's delegation to the migratory waterbirds conference in Madagascar, a regional seminar on climate change adaptation strategies, and KCS events. You can find the issue in the HOORC Library's current periodicals section.

New Birdlife publications

Photo courtesy of Hannelore Bendsen

The August 2008 issue of Birdlife Botswana's journal, The Babbler, has arrrived in HOORC's Library, with a useful CDROM produced by Birdlife International: Toolkit for Important Bird Area Conservation in Africa. Articles in The Babbler include Neil Taylor's bird count observations in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), Liz Fabis' vulture counts at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, Richard Randall's sightings in the northern Chobe and Kasane / Kazungula areas, Mark Vandewalle's waterbird count on the Chobe River and Brian Rode's note about cuckoo finches in the Okavango Delta.

The Toolkit for Important Bird Area (IBA) Conservation in Africa synthesises lessons learnt by the BirdLife Africa Partnership in the identification, monitoring and conservation of Important Bird Areas (IBAs). The contents include:

Regional IBA Conservation Strategy
Updated Directory of IBAs in Africa
IBA Monitoring Framework
Socio-economic Monitoring Framework
Site Action Planning Manual
Species Action Planning Process
Site Support Group Manual
Fundraising Toolkit
Mistakes and lessons learned
Examples and best practices
Africa Project Catalogue (APC) 2008
Africa Project Portfolio (APP) 2008
Africa Regional Strategies 2008.

You can find these new resources in HOORC's Library.

New MOU to protect migratory birds of prey

Augur Buzzard, Birdlife Botswana's photo of the month, photographed in the Linyanti area by Lindsey Glickfield

A meeting held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 20-22 October 2008, resulted in agreement on a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and action plan on migratory birds of prey in Africa and Eurasia, in the framework of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). The Memorandum was signed by 28 countries. A new CMS coordinating unit will be established in Abu Dhabi to promote and monitor the new agreement as a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiative. You can read more in the CMS press release of 23 October 2008.

Meanwhile, HOORC's Library has received the September 2008 issues of Birdlife Botswana's Birds and People and Familiar Chat newsletters. Birds and People includes a report about the 12th Pan African Ornithological Congress and the decision made there to establish an African Raptor
Network, reports of birds tagged in the region and a story about the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds. Familiar Chat features a report by Maun's Pete Hancock about the Trans-Okavango Bird Transect. You can find the newsletters in HOORC's Library and on Birdlife Botswana's web site.

New in HOORC's Library: Atlas of Bird Migration

The Atlas of Bird Migration, published by the Natural History Museum in the UK in 2007, traces world migration routes of more than 100 species. The introduction introduction explains flight techniques, feeding, biology and navigation, and talks about the revelations of new satellite tracking techniques. Additional sections describe the current environmental threats to migratory species and conservation initiatives worldwide. A catalogue of migrants provides details about their routes for quick reference. Originally published in 1995 and out of print since 2000, this new edition has been completely revised and updated, with new photographs and colour maps. You can find the book in HOORC's Library, and check the species that travel to and from Botswana on the Birdlife Botswana web site.