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Mountain Pipits: A piece of the puzzle
Mountain Pipits are regarded as breeding summer visitors to the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, and the adjacent Drakensberg. But after years of research and atlasing, we still don't know where these enigmatic birds disappear to in winter. A recent sighting of a migrating party of Mountain Pipits at Ezemvelo, Gauteng provides at least one piece in the puzzle.
Curiouser and curiouser: Brown-backed Honeybird displays
Despite being the epitomy of the term LBJ, Brown-backed Honeybirds are fascinating and curious creatures: brood parasites that can digest waxy scale insects and establish their territories by incredible aerial maneuvers. But there is still a great deal that we don't know about these easily overlooked birds - hopefully my observation on previously undescribed courtship behaviour and calls can contribute one piece to the puzzle.
Sharing is Scaring: mimicry in Black-bellied Starlings
If you're a Black-bellied Starling and you want to outcompete your frenemies to hook up with a GF, the most chillaxing way is to do it vocally. Talk the talk, gansta, by copying all the birds you hear around you, obvs. I try my hand at teen slang, and analysis of the vocal repertories of Black-bellied Starlings - possibly Africa's most under-rated mimic. If you're too lazy to read the post, just listen to the audio clip where I isolated mimicked phrases from 11 other species in a 22s recording. Peace!