Rob Little’s article ‘Space In-vaders’ (July/August 2020 issue) detailed the tussle among three Accipiter species (Black and Rufousbreasted sparrowhawks and African Goshawk) nesting on the Cape Peninsula. Rob’s account described what I too was witnessing in the remnant of a pine plantation in Tokai, outside Cape Town. Before the majority of the plantation was felled, each species had more than one nest and they all had sufficient space to avoid conflict.
Now that only 25.5 hectares of the plantation remains, a space race between the species is evident. Fortunately, since Black Sparrowhawks in the Western Cape breed in winter, they are usually teaching their offspring to hunt by the time the Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawks and African Goshawks begin their summer breeding season.
From time to time I had seen a pair of Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawks in a stand of pines, but once that was felled I had no idea if they had moved into the only section remaining or had deserted the area. However, in September 2018, while checking on juvenile Black Sparrowhawks, I heard a pair of Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawks calling within the pine trees. Following their softcalls, I found them building a nest near the centre of the plantation. They raised a brood of three chicks that fledged in late summer and they again nested nearby during the summer of 2019. Also in 2018, while strolling on the eastern edge of the plantation, I saw a female African Goshawk perched on a fairly low branch. Before I could lift my camera, a male flew in from behind me, landed on the female and copulated with her. He then disappeared just as quickly out of the pine tree area, but to my delight soon returned carrying a stick that he took up to a nest, high in a pine tree.
This story is from the March/April 2021 edition of African Birdlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March/April 2021 edition of African Birdlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
