159
FIRST RECORD FOR KASANE, BOTSWANA
Collared Flycatcher
Text by Stefan
Rust
2013
(In
terms of the Geneva Convention the copyright of these texts belongs to Stefan
Rust)
People usually visit the Chobe Safari Lodge in order to
explore the neighboring Chobe National Park, cool off in the swimming pool or
dine on the superb buffet. But by wandering around on the lodge property the
bird and birder friendly garden will reveal many exciting birds that birders
have probably spent hours eyeing in their field guide.
On the 30th of October 2013 our small group of
one ornithologist and eight travellers arrived at the Chobe Safari Lodge. This
lodge was awarded a Bird & Birder Friendly Award by BirdsConTour for its
work in maintaining a bird friendly garden.
After a short break, the garden, containing many species of
birds, was inspected. While searching for birds I paused every few minutes,
scanning trees and bushes. All senses were switched on, like being on a hunt.
Suddenly my eyes detected a movement in the canopy of an umbrella acacia tree
just 15 metres from where I’ve halted in silence. I felt great excitement when
I identified this small bird, 12-13cm, pale brown in color with a noticeable
significant broad pale vertical mark leading from the white wing bar to the
edge of its wing as a non-breeding either male, female or juvenile Collared
Flycatcher, Ficedula albicollis.
Watching in disbelief at this special bird it allowed me great views of it
while typically darting out from its perch to hawk insects.
This was one of very few sightings of this rare migrant to
southern Africa, possibly the first record for Kasane, Botswana. Inhabiting
savanna, woodland, parks and gardens it has been found in isolated localities
in Namibia, Zimbabwe and the Transvaal.
This small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher
family, one of the four species of the Western Palearctic black-and-white
flycatchers, breeds in Eastern France to the Balkans and Ukraine. This rare
vagrant in Western Europe overwinters in tropical and southern Africa, south of
the equator.
The global population is not declining for example more than
30% in ten years or three generations and therefore the conservation status of
this species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Whereby most flycatchers are monogamous, the Collared
Flycatcher is polygamous with a deceptive mating behavior in which males defend
two or seldom more distant territories in succession, acquiring a female to
each territory. The female that is first attracted to a territory is described
as the “primary” female and the second of another territory is referred to as
the “secondary”. The purpose of having two distant territories is that the
males can hide from other females the fact that they are already mated and can
increase their number of offspring at cost of the “secondary” female because
after egg-laying males desert their secondary females, mainly assisting their
primary female to feed the young. Since single-handed feeding by the
“secondary” female, some of her young may die from undernourishment. Bgamy thus
is an adaptive feature in the
Collared Flycatcher.
With this fairly shy and inconspicuous but special bird in
its garden the Chobe Safari Lodge once again proved being a bird friendly
establishment.
No comments:
Post a Comment