Introducing the Bateleur: Bird of the Year 2024

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Amy Fraser

one day ago

The Bateleur / Pixabay: dawnydawny

John Perlman interviews Nandi Thobela, Empowering People Programme Manager at BirdLife South Africa.

BirdLife South Africa has announced the Bird of the Year 2024 – the Bateleur.

Described as a charismatic and eye-catching bird of prey, the Bateleur is covered in black and white, with vibrant red-orange on the face and legs.

Sadly, this bold and beautiful bird is regionally endangered, with an estimated 50% drop over the past 40 years.

According to BirdLife, this could be the result of habitat transformation resulting in a decrease in prey.

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The aim of the Bird of the Year is to drive awareness and create a spotlight on a particular bird, says Thobela.

The criteria when looking to crown a bird includes:

Whether or not the bird is familiar to a previous Bird of the Year If the bird lends itself to learning materials Its conservation status

To learn about BirdLife's Empowering People Programme, click here.

We celebrate it [Bird of the Year]; we commemorate it.

Nandi Thobela, Empowering People Programme Manager – BirdLife South Africa

Scroll up to listen to the full interview.

This article first appeared on 702 : Introducing the Bateleur: Bird of the Year 2024