The Bat Hawk Camera Monitoring Project, run by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) and Bat Hawk South Africa, aims to conserve the rare bat hawk in South Africa. The organisations have banded together and installed a BathawkCam at an active nest near the White River in Mpumalanga to monitor a breeding pair.
‘Bat hawks (Macheiramphus alcinus) are very elusive little raptors, considered by many birders to be a ‘Lowveld Special’. They are listed as Endangered in South Africa due to their rarity,’ BirdLife wrote on Facebook.
‘With so little known about this unique species, the Lowveld branch of WESSA has erected a web camera at an active Bat hawk nest. The camera is being managed by Petri Viljoen and the data by Peter Retief – both former SANParks scientists and also getting inputs from Dr Garth Batchelor.’
‘Currently, these birds have been monitored mating frequently for more than a week and lining the nest with green leaves, so laying can be expected any time soon. This project can give more insight about Bat hawk’s behaviour, breeding biology and is of important educational and conservation value,’ BirdLife added.
Posted by BirdLife South Africa on Thursday, 15 October 2020
Posted by BirdLife South Africa on Thursday, 15 October 2020
According to Bat Hawk SA, this species is a specialist bat hunter. However, it will also feed on swallows and occasionally on other smaller birds. ‘Bat Hawks may forage far from their nests and using a tracking device, the late Tony Harris suggested the home range of a pair of Bat Hawks to be approximately 200 km2 in the Tzaneen area of Limpopo Province,’ the organisation said.
For more information or to get involved, click here.
Picture: Wikimedia Commons
