An incubating Orange-breasted Falcon as host for a Vampire Bat

Posted on May 21, 2012 by staff

Incubating birds are often times target for predation which could come from unexpected places. Sometimes even from potential prey items!! The Orange-breasted Falcon (Falco deiroleucus) population is probably declining in Central America and researchers are trying to figure out why.

In 2008, Marta, Yeray and myself, members of Whitehawk who at the time were working for The Peregrine Fund, were able to document how a Vampire Bat was parasitizing a female Orange-breasted Falcon while she was incubating, something that had never been observed or described before. Follow this link to read the article published in the prestigious Journal of Raptor Research about this interesting interaction.

The Honey Buzzard Migration

Posted on May 17, 2012 by yeray

Adult Female Honey Buzzard

Having the opportunity to spend long periods of time in strategic places for watching migrating birds is priceless for any birder. In the Strait of Gibraltar the spectacle of migration is something that happens almost continuously throughout the year. The peaks of activity are mainly in August and September during the fall migration, and in March and April for spring migration. However, not all species migrate at the same time. Only in late October,  after the Black Kites, storks, and Short-toed and Booted eagles have already crossed into Africa in search of food, does the Griffon Vulture begin its migration.

Adult Male Honey Buzzard crossing the Strait

These past few days we have been experiencing one of the most spectacular migrations –  that of the Honey Buzzard. It is the last raptor to return to Europe each year, and  it does so in waves of hundreds and sometimes thousands of individuals at a time. They reach the shores of the strait with their powerful flight, no matter the weather, and the banks are invaded by the dark silhouettes of these unique predators that feed primarily on bees and wasps. Their feathers are so varied that each individual seems different from the one before, and with a little experience one can distinguish females from males, and adults from juveniles.

Not only honey buzzards arrive from Africa these days. Some other raptors, like this Eurasian Hobby can be seen as well

The strait is always a fascinating place to enjoy nature and birds, and in May the migration of the Honey Buzzard only serves to make this unique region even more interesting!

Last Child in the Woods

Posted on April 29, 2012 by marta

 

For someone who loves birds, wildlife, travel, or just spending time outdoors, it might be hard to imagine a life without enjoying the splendors of nature – the calming sound of a creek, the colorful flight of a bird, the intoxicating scent of pine trees on a spring day. For most of us, a life without regular immersion into the natural world would be empty, disheartening, tragic even.

Unfortunately, to many kids growing up today, wild things and wild places are not a thing of beauty or a source of joy. Instead many of our children view nature as something foreign, as something scary, or perhaps worst of all, as something uninteresting. It probably comes as no surprise to anyone, considering the advances in technology and the rise of texting, facebooking, video games and the like, that many children would rather spend their time on a computer than on a hike.

What might come as a surprise, however, is that this lack of time in nature could have serious repercussions for the mental and physical well-being of our youth, our nations, and the future health of our natural world. In Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder the author explores the reasons why children are spending less time in nature and how the rises in childhood obesity, depression, and attention-deficit disorder may all be linked to this disconnect with the natural world.

A Child from the Embera Community. Photo by Beny Wilson

Parents, educators, or anyone interested in the conservation of our wild places will find this book informative, a bit scary, but also hopeful. Louv offers many solutions as to how to get children back into nature, many of which can be accomplished right in our own back yards. Perhaps this book will even inspire you to share your love of birding or nature with a child in your life. Louv makes a very compelling argument that their future well being, and ours, could depend on it.

Into the Wild Desert: Merzouga

Posted on March 29, 2012 by yeray

 

Domestic camels are used to travel to far oasis in the desert

For most people, the desert represents one of the final frontiers – a lifeless place of harsh extremes. But nothing is further from reality. While it is true that the fauna in deserts is less abundant than in other ecosystems, the species found there are, in most cases, very unique with fascinating adaptations to their environment.

One of the best places to enjoy desert avifauna is Merzouga. Located in southeastern Morocco at the gates of the great Sahara Desert, it is home to one of the largest sand dunes in the country, and to one of the most famous inhabitants of this region – the Saharan Sparrow.  It is here that this beautiful bird finds one of its few known safe havens in the country. Other species typical of sandy desert, such as the Greater Hoopoe Lark, Bar-tailed Lark or the African Desert Warbler, can also be found here.

Greater Hoopoe Lark

But perhaps the most striking feature of this place is the presence of a large seasonal lake, the Dayer Srji, that in years of abundant rainfall hosts thousands of waterfowl, including Ruddy Shelduck, Greater Flamingo or Marbled Teal and serves as a drinking  hole for  4 species of Sandgrouse. This, coupled with the presence of many flocks of Tamarix, makes this area a real magnet for migratory birds, which use the area as a stop-over point to obtain water and food for the last time before they make the long flight across the Sahara.

Trumpeter finches drinking from a seasonal pond in Merzouga

This combination of factors creates a truly unique situation for the birdwatcher.  In the same field of view one can see hundreds of flamingos and ducks, while also watching desert birds including  Desert Sparrow, Trumpeter Finch and numerous trans-Saharan passerines such as the Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush or the Western Orphean Warbler.

For all these reasons and many more, we believe that a visit to Morocco would be incomplete without visiting this amazing place. That’s why every trip to the region organized by Whitehawk devotes several days to discovering Merzouga and its wonderful and unique birdlife.