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HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Park Times)- Raptor experts hunting for South Africa's rarest breeding bird on the border of Limpopo and Mpumalanga have discovered a total of four pairs of breeding Taita Falcons in the Drakensberg escarpment, and believe that there may be more pairs lurking on the mountains' inaccessible cliff faces.

Over the last month, a team of raptor specialists have been scrutinising the cliffs in search of the diminutive birds of prey, and team leader Andrew Jenkins called their mission “a qualified success”, saying that they did not find as many pairs as previously hoped for.

He added that there were some logistical issues to be overcome, but the team learnt a lot and any further work in the area would be “meaningfully informed by what has already been done." Jenkins hopes to return later in the year as the birds’ breeding season really gets into full swing, when he believes he will find more pairs in areas where the recent survey did not reach."

If our suspicions become reality then the area supports a very significant part of one of the world's rarest raptor populations." The name ‘Taita’ comes from the place in Kenya where the bird was first identified.

It is a naturally rare bird, and is hard to spot in the areas where it occurs because it habitually perches for hours on cliff faces. The highest density of Taita Falcons confirmed is thought to be in the Batoka Gorge between Zimbabwe and Zambia, where ecotourism activities are thought to be threatening the population.

The falcons also occur from Tanzania to Ethiopia. Little is known about these birds because of their rarity and the inaccessibility of their nest sites.

Whilst searching for the small and elusive Taita Falcon, the birders kept track of the other cliff nesting raptors that crossed their field of view.

Although not all the observations are compiled yet, Jenkins estimates that they saw about 12 pairs of Lanner Falcons, three pairs of Peregrine Falcons, about 20 pairs of Rock Kestrels and five pairs of Verreaux’s Eagles.

He says that the statistics gathered will help provide a benchmark for the management of the Blyde Canyon National Park. He commented that there has been a striking change in the numbers of Lanner Falcons, which have increased significantly when compared with a previous survey carried out in the area some years ago.

The numbers of peregrine falcons have declined when compared to the previous survey." It is an interesting thing to note. The figures are telling us something…The trick is to figure out what the reason is." He said that the change could have been caused by something as concrete as a change in land use practices in the area, or something not immediately transparent to observers, such as global warming.

by Lynette Strauss, Kruger Times


Explore our birding safaris: the Blue Swallow Southern Birding Safari, and the Limpopo Lanner (Birds of the North) Safari.

Labels: blyde canyon, conservation, hoedspruit, taita falcon

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Times)- After being largely ignored for many years by conservation organisations, the Taita Falcon has now become an increasingly important priority in raptor conservation circles. This small, specialised bird of prey is known to occur in only one place in South Africa– the Mariepskop escarpment in Mpumalanga/Limpopo.

The increasing awareness of this small bird in conservation circles has been in part triggered by the removal last December of a young bird from its parents in one of the three confirmed nesting areas in the escarpment. The bird subsequently died.

Following this event, a workshop was held at Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre at the end of January, bringing together representatives from the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), Limpopo department of environmental affairs, BirdLife South Africa, various bird of prey breeders, a Taita falcon expert formerly from Zimbabwe, and various other local birding experts, including Dave Rushworth, who initially discovered the birds in the escarpment.

With less than 50 nest sites known worldwide, most of which are in the Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe, the bird merits stricter conservation measures. There are three confirmed nest sites in South Africa, and four or five more potential sites.

Andre Botha from the EWT’s bird of prey working group has said that he is surprised that the bird is not considered in South Africa’s Red Data Book on birds. Botha is positive about the results of the workshop. “Deadlines were set and tasks were allocated, and the deadlines have been met.”

Funding is now being sought to initially survey the population in the escarpment and to closely monitor the existing nest sites. Rumours of the birds being present in the Soutpansberg will also be followed up on if funding becomes available. Once more is known about the current situation, a population Habitat and Viability Assessment is planned to help focus conservation efforts.

The bird is scarce over its entire population distribution, but is being increasingly threatened in its stronghold in Zimbabwe by human actions – microlight and helicopter flights have disturbed its prime nesting sites in the Zambezi valley, the use of pesticides are thought to have reduced the population, along with illegal collection and trade of live birds and eggs.

Among the outcomes of the workshop is the development of a protocol on captive breeding, which environmental affairs will use to source organisations willing to start a captive breeding program, based on two birds currently in captivity. This will help ensure that the species remains in existence in South Africa while details of conservation plans are being ironed out.

The legislation to prevent the problem of nest robbing will also be worked on so that it can be successfully applied. Any studies undertaken will be the first to be performed in over 15 years, and the first to specialise in the Taita.

by Melissa Wray, Kruger Times

Labels: mariepskop, taita falcon