Falling in love with birds

By Denni Raubenheimer

My wife has often teased me about the answer I gave when three years ago she asked me whether or not I like birds. My answer was basically - “No, with exception of Fish Eagles and stuff”. The irony and her reason for teasing me is that in the past year and a half or so I’ve fallen in love with them.

Years ago I didn’t care much for most birds, though I did have an appreciation for eagles, such as these majestic African Fish Eagles.

For me, as is the case for quite a number of South Africans, the Kruger National Park (KNP) played a major role in the development of my passion for birds. My first visit to the Kruger was at the end of my honeymoon. My wife and I had flown to Zanzibar and after about a week on the island backpacked through portions of mainland Tanzania and Malawi. We had really wanted to visit one of Tanzania’s great parks, but we realized that for the price of 2 days and one game drive in the Serengeti Game Reserve we could camp in the Kruger for about ten days, plus do our own game drives. We thus opted for the Kruger. Our expectation was mainly for lions, elephants and other large mammals and throughout our visit we saw mammals galore. What also happened is that we were constantly admiring feathered creatures – constantly getting to know new bird species and raving about their beauty. Some species that stood out for me during that first visit were Lilac-breasted and European Rollers, Carmine and European Bee-eaters, Woodland and Giant Kingfishers, Marabou and Yellow-billed Storks, as well as African Scops-Owl.

During my first visit to the Kruger one of my most memorable experiences was observing an African Scops-Owl at close quarters with a headlamp as it scanned its surroundings for prey. I kept thinking “It’s exactly like a miniature version of a larger Owl.”.

The relatively well known African Jacana has long toes that enable it to spread it’s body weight and walk on floating plants such as water lilies. Though omnivorous it feeds largely on insects and crustaceans that have aquatic habits.

After that first visit to the Kruger, whenever I found myself away from the city I would be more attentive to the birds around me. I also picked up bird books more often, so my knowledge was growing. Probably about four months after our honeymoon my wife and I bought a box full of fifty or so past issues of Africa Birds and Birding. Having a tendency for collecting information and having had developed a passion for wildlife photography I saturated my brain with each issue. My knowledge of South African birds quadrupled in a short time and as it tends to go with most fields of knowledge - the more you know about a study field, the more interesting you find it.

My wife and I are quite lucky to have one or more pairs of Klaas’s Cuckoos visit our garden on regularly intervals each summer. I was lucky enough to take this photo of a male out of one of our windows.

Although learning about birds and becoming familiar with more species was pivotal in the growth of my admiration for them, it was the realization of their beauty and variety that truly enamoured me. I came to realize that birds are arguably as morphologically diverse as mammals and on average much more colourful. They might not be as fierce as big cats, but can be just as majestic. They are probably more often overlooked than wild mammals, but their variety, in terms of numbers of species, far exceed those of mammals. In South Africa, for instance, more than 900 species of birds occur, compared to only about 300 species of mammals. Take that into account, plus the fact that birds are relatively geographically uninhibited, then there is no surprise that no matter where you live you should have a multitude of birds to admire. Take Pretoria for example. I used to just notice doves and other “boring” species in my home city, but since I’ve started to look at birds and keep my eyes open for them, I constantly have the opportunity to muse at the beauty of one or other of the approximately 400 species that have been recorded here.

This White-backed Vulture, along with numerous other vultures, came swooping down to earth shortly after a Zebra had given birth. My wife and I were both amazed at how rapidly the vultures responded and at how they seemed to appear out of nowhere. 

With my eyes open to the abundance of birds wherever I find myself, I am indebted to them for making nature’s beauty and diversity a much greater part of my daily experience. More than that, having developed a love and appreciation for birds, I have found yet another diamond in the treasury of the natural world.

Lilac-breasted Rollers have an affinity for bushveld, savannah and woodland vegetation zones. Can one help but admire their colourful plumage?