Is booming hadeda, Egyptian goose, pith crow population threatening other birds?
As the numbers of these birds grow, how are they reshaping our skies?
Hadeda Ibis. Image: Wikimedia Commons
CapeTalk's John Maytham speaks to Arjun Amar, an avian conservation biologist at the FitzPatrick Institute of Ornithology, University of Cape Town.
Listen below:
Pith crows, hadedas and Egyptian geese have shown significant growth over the past few years. Is this a threat to other bird species?
"We don't really know too much about that," says Amar.
He explains how hard it is to identify the population-level impact of a specific species.
"Egyptian geese do oust certain species from their nests... and sometimes successfully, but it's very unlikely that it has a major population effect on black farrow hawks, which are one of those species that have also increased dramatically in the last 20-odd years in Cape Town."
- Arjun Amar, avian conservation biologist - University of Cape Town
Pith crows pose a threat to tortoises in Doringbaai, according to Amar's research. However, in other areas they 'didn't touch tortoises at all', showing that pith crow predation might happen individually or in pairs in various areas, instead of being predatory as a flock.
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.