The Birding Life Podcast Network

In this week's episode we are going back to a project that we first spoke about right at the beginning of the year, the Big Year of African Sounds.The idea behind the project is simple, but incredibly important. Africa has some of the most remarkable birdlife in the world, but when it comes to sound recordings, many of our species are still poorly represented in major sound libraries.So this year, birders across the continent have been encouraged to get out into the field, press record, and help build a much stronger library of African bird sounds.And a lot has happened since we first spoke about the project.The number of recordings coming in has been impressive, training events have taken place across the year, including a recent event at Zaagkuilsdrift, and changes to Merlin and eBird have made it much easier for ordinary birders to get their recordings into the system.But we are not at the end of the year yet.So today I am joined again by John Kinghorn, Avitourism Manager at BirdLife South Africa, to look at how the Big Year of African Sounds has gone so far, what they have learned, where the gaps still are, and what birders can still do during these final few months of 2026.Visit our online store to get your birding related merchandise at great prices https://www.thebirdinglife.com/online-storeIntro and outro music by Tony ZA https://soundcloud.com/tonyofficialzaLinks from show:Big Year of African Sound website http://www.africansounds.org/

Tristan is the host of the SnA Youth Birders podcast and forms a core part of the Admin team of the SnA Youth Birders group itself. He is a rising star on the social media front and aims to be a bird show host and a conservation personality one day. He is an experienced birder with many years under the belt- guiding both privately and for Birdlife South Africa. He is well known for his exceptional bird call ID skills and his love of having a million different hobbies going on at once. Tristan recently visited Uganda and has been sharing some of his stories and posts across his social media-platform. We run through beginner bird call ID, what to expect on the bird front with the crazy El Nino coming and what camera to choose on a budget. There are loads of things he talks about in this episode so be prepared to be entertained. Spring Fling Challenge Link: https://www.birdlasser.com/private/events/lyl2026Socials:Instagram- Mikeli: @mikeli_bass_photography SnA Youth Birders: @SA_Youthbirders Tristan: @tspurway.wildlifeYoutube-Tristan: https://www.youtube.com/@spurofthewild?sub_confirmation=1Website-Tristan: tspurwaywildlife.comVisit our online store to get your birding related merchandise at great prices Intro and outro music by Tony ZA https://soundcloud.com/tonyofficialza

If you are a birder from KwaZulu Natal, you will probably know Mount Moreland. During summer, an estimated three million Barn Swallows gather there to roost in the reedbeds, creating one of the great birding spectacles in the province. But Mount Moreland is also an important wetland supporting a much wider range of wildlife.What makes the story even more interesting is that this enormous concentration of birds sits right next to King Shaka International Airport.That creates an unusual challenge. How do we better understand the movements of millions of birds around a busy airport, protect those birds, and at the same time reduce the risk of bird strikes?That is where the King Shaka Bird Radar Project comes in.My guests today are Matthew Wilkinson, an MSc candidate at the University of KwaZulu Natal, and Dr Cameron Cormac, a postdoctoral researcher at UKZN. Together with the wider research team, they are studying how birds use the airspace around the airport and how technology can help us understand those movements in far greater detail.The radar can detect bird movement, altitude, size categories, whether birds are moving individually or in flocks, and it stores huge amounts of information that researchers can begin to use to understand patterns over time.So today we are going to talk about Mount Moreland, Barn Swallows, bird strikes, radar, artificial intelligence, infrastructure, and what this technology could eventually mean not only for King Shaka, but potentially for airports and bird conservation much further afield.Matthew and Cameron, welcome to The Birding Life Podcast.Visit our online store to get your birding related merchandise at great prices https://www.thebirdinglife.com/online-storeIntro and outro music by Tony ZA https://soundcloud.com/tonyofficialza

What happens when three young scientists with a shared fascination for the natural world come together? You get ZooLogic ZA.In this episode, Gabby sits down with Devon, Ross and Strijdom to talk wildlife, science, conservation and the curiosity that keeps pulling them deeper into the natural world. From rhino research and snake handling to insects, butterflies and the stories hidden in the ecosystems around us, the conversation explores their individual journeys as well as what brought ZooLogic together.It’s a fun, fascinating conversation with three young people proving that science doesn’t have to stay behind laboratory doors. Sometimes it’s muddy, unpredictable, slightly chaotic and right out there in the wild.Visit our online store to get your birding related merchandise at great prices https://www.thebirdinglife.com/online-storeIntro and outro music by Tony ZA https://soundcloud.com/tonyofficialzaLinks from show:

This week's episode is a little bit different, and a lot of fun.My guest is Themba Robin, a South African comedian, content creator, actor, MC and voice artist, known for his satirical takes on everyday South African life and for finding humour in the things most of us walk straight past.And that is part of what makes this conversation so interesting.Birders are a very particular bunch. We have our habits, our obsessions, our strange little routines, and sometimes it takes someone from outside the birding world to point out just how funny some of it actually is.So in this episode, Themba and I have a bit of fun with the birding community. We chat about what he has noticed about birders, what we take too seriously, and whether he is slowly becoming one of us.We also talk about the more serious side of his growing connection with birds and conservation, including his work with BirdLife South Africa, his role in the inaugural Call of the Hadeda at the 2026 South African Bird Fair, and how humour can be used to get people to care about nature in a different way.We also chat about his time in Chobe with Pangolin Safaris, his experience using the Sony RX10 V, and whether photography has changed the way he looks at birds and wildlife.It is a fun conversation, but there is also a really interesting thread running through it about how people connect with birds, how we make birding feel more welcoming, and whether laughter can actually help us care more.Visit our online store to get your birding related merchandise at great prices https://www.thebirdinglife.com/online-storeIntro and outro music by Tony ZA https://soundcloud.com/tonyofficialzaLinks from show:Themba Robin Instagram and FacebookBirdLife South Africa https://birdlife.org.za/