Birds

Raptors

Raptor populations were first studied here at Malilangwe in 1995. A remarkably high density of 38 species was found in the sandstone hills of the Malilangwe Range. This was one of the highest known densities of raptors in the world. Research on raptors was extended to the entire reserve in 2002, with follow-up studies in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

During Zimbabwe’s period of economic crisis (2006-2008), significant numbers of doves were killed using poison in the communal lands surrounding the reserve for sale as bush meat. This had a negative effect on raptors at Malilangwe, particularly tawny and bateleur eagles, because they scavenged the poisoned birds and succumbed to poisoning themselves.

Five bateleur and 12 tawny eagles were recorded poisoned between 2006 and 2011. Our security team informed the local traditional leaders of the problem, and the poisoning was stopped.

In July 2012, 197 vultures died after feeding on an elephant that had been poisoned by poachers in neighbouring Gonarezhou National Park. Many of these vultures habitually nested on our property because data collected since 2006 showed a dramatic decline in active nests post-2011. Clearly, poisoning has become a serious threat to biodiversity here at Malilangwe and a position paper on how best to tackle the problem was commissioned in 2014.

Red-Billed Quelea

James Dale conducted a PhD at Malilangwe on Red-billed Quelea – the world’s most abundant bird. He focused on their ornamental breeding plumage and showed that its most likely function is individual recognition of potential male competitors – an important requirement in the densely packed nesting colonies of this species.

Following his work, the size and distribution of quelea breeding colonies at Malilangwe have been recorded by storing maps of their boundaries as layers in the GIS. Quelea are a major threat to the cereal crops of the communities surrounding our Reserve. To avoid conflict, communities have been allowed to harvest chicks from nests at the breeding colonies. Up to four tons have been harvested in a single nesting season.