The Birding Blog — The Birding Blog

Hands up if you thought this hidden (or at least hiding) gem was a Pearl Spotted Owl? Wrong! This is the Cuban Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium siju). We found him(?) in a mountain forest with heavy subtropical vegetation. He didn’t mind us observing his position from quite close up, and kept his eyes fixed in our direction with his head following our movements. Sadly the vegetation did not allow us to get into a place where we could see him without the tree branch crossing, and considering the poor light, this was the best shot we could get. We did hear...

Recently I posted on the Cuban Tody and Cuban Nightjar. Well, today it is the turn of the Cuban Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus cubensis). We found this fellow in the fields in the foothills of Holguin Province. He hated having his daytime hideout disturbed, and refused to let us closer than 40 or 50 metres away. Eventually our attempts at a subtle approach were foiled by an aggressive bull that we attracted, and we beat a tactical retreat. We do not know a great deal about this beauty. Apparently they prefer to roost on the ground in fields, and that...

The pigeon is a pest. Right? When we think of pigeons we think of the feral pigeon. The ultimate survivor; an extremely efficient design able to fly with great efficiency, and able to optimise their interrelationship with humans by reuse of waste foodstuffs. Their ability to dominate areas is clearly exacerbated by their gregarious nature and typical “attack” in large swarms. However, apart from the effect of destroying your seed feeding zone, they do not seem to have that many harmful effects. In many parts they are regarded as vermin, but not the worst form of vermin out there. (That...

Some unfortunate people regard mousebirds as pests. The very name “mousebird” seems to conjure images of filth. In truth, we have at least 10 Speckled Mousebirds on our feeder each morning – and they do mess (very big mess!), but they are a daily joy. On the other hand 30 rats are born every second of the day in South Africa!!! (from South African Pest Control Association data). And these are not friendly mousebirds or even Raton Mickey types, these are R Rattus of black death fame. The greatest nightmare is to find that they have “discovered” your bird feeding...

(A Bird by any Other Name Part 1) I recently had the good fortune to play at a golf day at Kyalami Country Club. At the function afterwards, a magnificent Dikkop proceeded to stroll into the function room collecting morsels from under the tables and the guests feet! (Really!) Obviously many golfers had no clue as to the name of this audacious creature, and were rapidly informed that it was a “Dikkop”. Someone quickly corrected that notion and pronounced it a “Spotted Thick-knee”. Frankly, a rather stupid name for a very beautiful bird. At least the name has been around...