Tag Archives: Hogsback

The Cape Parrots Of King William’s Town, South Africa

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There is a lot of confusion about the classification of Cape Parrots.  In the past, there were 3 subspecies:  Poicephalus robustus robusts (Brown-headed Cape Parrots), Poicephalus robustus suahelicus and Poicephalus robustus fuscicollis (Grey-headed Cape Parrots).   Cape Parrots have now been reclassified so the Brown-headed Cape Parrots are in their own species now – Poicephalus robustus and the two Grey-headed Cape Parrots are now in their own species divided into Poicephalus fusicollis suahelicus (the Grey-headed Cape Parrots in the Limpopo region) and Poicephalus fusicollis fusicollus (Grey headed/Brown-necked parrots found in West Africa.  If all this is confusing, there is a good graph on Thor’s Cape Parrot page.

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In this post, I will be blogging about my experience with Poicephalus robustus, the Brown-headed Cape Parrots.  The distribution map below is extracted from Birdlife and I have indicated in blue the approximate range of these birds.  They breed in the Hogsback area and fly down to King William’s Town most days to forage as fruit trees are plentiful.

Hogsback & King William’s Town

There is a very active, dedicated Facebook group called Cape Parrot Project and the members are happy to advise anyone who is really interested in learning more about these amazing birds.

If you are interested in visiting this area to see the Cape Parrots, you could fly into either Port Elizabeth or East London depending on your other travel plans.  I went for Port Elizabeth and rented a car for the trip.  You could visit Hogsback or King William’s Town depending on the season and availability of guides.  These birds are much less noisy than I had anticipated and I would have had a lot of trouble locating them without the help of Rodnick Biljon from the Cape Parrots group.  He monitors them regularly and knows where to find them.  I won’t post an exact map of where they are currently found to protect the birds from potential poachers but I suggest contacting Rodnick on Facebook.

Another member of the Cape Parrot group, Joanne Stolk runs a wonderful little guest house called 2 Oaks Guesthouse which I reviewed on a separate post.  You can also expect more Cape Parrot photos and other birding opportunities in King William’s Town!

Hogsback, South Africa: Cape Parrot Project

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This is one of the areas I will be visiting in 2015 on my big Africa trip.  This newsletter and video describe some of the conservation efforts to save wild Cape Parrots in the area.

Children learn about conservation

Please read this latest National Geographic NewsWatch blog:
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/05/involving-children-in-conservation-is-easy/

The Cape Parrot Project and our community-based conservation project, the iziKhwenene Project, are multi-generational projects that aim to stimulate positive change for Cape parrots, other threatened forest endemics (e.g. the Hogsback frog), local communities, and the degraded Afromontane forest patches they all depend upon for food, shelter and environmental services. We are working more and more with local children and through our “micr0-nurseries” and “Forest Custodians Program” hope to establish them as the future stewards and custodians of the communally-owned indigenous forests near their homes.  Please watch this amazing 14-minute video on the iziKhwenene Project to learn more about our work.

 

 

Birding In Hogsback, South Africa

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Hogsback is one of the top birding destinations in South Africa and can easily be reached with a domestic flight to Port Elizabeth, then a 3 hour drive.

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The most sought after bird here is the Cape Parrot (Poicephalus robustus) one of two subspecies of Cape Parrot.  The other subspecies, (Poicephalus fuscicollis) can be found in the Magoebaskloof area.  Cape Parrots are highly endangered and there are several people working hard in this area to try to save them.  Cape Parrot Project, World Parrot Trust.

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Hogsback has accommodation to suit every budget.  Since I have not yet been here (it’s on my 2015 Africa trip) I can’t recommend any particular eco-lodge but there is a good selection on this website.

There are several birding tour operators in the area and links can be found on Fat Birder.  You could try Aves or Graham Russell.  The whole area is rich in birdlife and species you will want to look for include:  Cape Parrot, Orange Ground Thrush, Bush Blackcap, Narina Trogon, Knysna Woodpecker, White Starred Robin, Olive Woodpecker, Chorister Robin-Chat, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Woodland-warbler, Olive Bush-shrike, Cape Batis, African Emerald Cuckoo, Klaas’ Cuckoo, African Olive Pigeon, Red Chested Cuckoo, Brown Scrub Robin, Dark Backed Weaver,Drakensberg Prinia, Barrats Warbler, Dark Capped Yellow Warbler, Common Quail, Lazy Cisticola, Yellow Bishop, Red-necked Spurfowl, Thick-billed Weaver, Blue Crane, Grey Crowned Crane, Secretary Bird, Ground Woodpecker, Jackal Buzzard, Steppe Buzzard, Forest Buzzard, Long Crested Eagle, African Crowned Eagle, Martial Eagle, Rufous Chested, Black and Little Sparrowhawks , Rock Kestrels, Amur Kestrels as well as Yellow Billed Kites,and more.

Birding guides in the Hogsback area are welcome to leave their contact details in the comments section of this post.