African Fish Eagle

Zambia’s National bird is the African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer). They can be spotted perched high up on branches above rivers, lakes and swamps. They have a very large range and can be found across Africa.

The Fish Eagle is featured on the Zambian Coat of Arms and you can often hear the evocative call being used on the local radio and television.

Description

Size: 63-73 cm

Weight: 2-2.5 kg (males), 3.2-3.6 kg (females)

Fish Eagles have a distinctive plumage, with a white upper-body and tail, and a chestnut belly and black wings. Their call is very distinctive, which they make with their head thrown back and is often heard in the early mornings. The male’s cry is higher than the females.

Behaviour

Fish Eagles are normally seen in pairs, calling and dueting. This is an integral part of their breeding display, along with spectacular aerial dives and falls, in which mating pairs can be seen interlocking their talons in mid-air.

They nest close to the water’s edge. These are built out of sticks, reeds, bulrushes and papyrus heads, and are reused year after year, growing in size. Females lay one to three eggs, which are then incubated for about 44 days. Both adults care for the chicks until they fledge at about 65-75 days. In the wild these Fish Eagles can live up to 24 years.

They are proficient hunters of live fish. Hunting from a high perch, they watch for a fish to move to the water’s surface. Once sighted, they then swoop low over the water, throwing both feet forward to seize the prey with their powerful talons. Although only about one in seven attempts are successful, they only spend about 10 minutes actively hunting each day. They also eat young water birds and occasionally will eat crocodile hatchlings, frogs and insects.

Conservation

Population Size: unknown

Trend: stable

African Fish Eagles are classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Their population is seen as stable, although wetland degradation and water pollution is thought to have affected their numbers over the years.

Black-cheeked Lovebird

The Black-cheeked Lovebird (Agapornis nigrigenis) is a near-endemic species, mainly found in Kafue National Park and along parts of the Zambezi River.

They live in mopane woodlands close to permanent water supplies as they need to drink at least twice a day.

Description

Size: 14 cm

These colourful solidly built lovebirds are bright green in colour, with an orange patch on their chest. They have a dark brown head, olive nape, bold white eye-ring and red bill.

They have a loud shrill, shrieking call.

Behaviour

In non-breeding season they congregate in flocks of up to 800 birds, feeding and drinking together in the early morning and late afternoon.

They roost and nest in cavities in mopane trees, breeding from mid-January to early May, with females laying six to seven eggs. It is thought that each pair uses the same nest year after year.

They feed on seeds and will forage for leaves, fruit pulp, nectar, invertebrates, bark, litchens and soil. They also feed on crops, such as millet and sorghum.

Conservation

Population Size: estimated at 10,000

Trend: decreasing

Black-cheeked Lovebirds are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

In the 1920s and 1930s they were heavily exploited for the caged bird trade – a ban was placed on this trade in the 1930s.

They are considered as pests by famers as they feed on millet and sorghum crops. Their water sources are threatened due to lower rainfall and from more artificial water sources being dug, which have lowered the water tables, reducing the ground water supply and narrowing their habitats.

Chaplin’s Barbet

Zambia has only one true endemic species – the Chaplin’s or Zambian Barbet (Lybius chaplini). Population size is about 5,200 adult birds which are found from just North of Lusaka, on the Kafue Flats, and in Southern Province.

These barbets are generally associated with open woodlands with Sycamore Fig trees. And it is thought that they only breed in Fig Trees which are 40 years or older. They are therefore very vulnerable to deforestation.

Description

Size: 19 cm (including tail)

Weight: 64–75 grams

These barbet are small and stout looking with a large head and a heavy bill with bristles. Their plumage is white, with vibrant red around the eyes, having a black tail, and black wings with yellow edges.

They snap their stout bill, making a loud noise, along with other grating and buzzy notes. They have a noisy cackle song with can be sung by up to three birds at a time.

Behaviour

Typically they are social, foraging and roosting in groups of two to six individuals. They are also aggressively territorial – attacking other barbets and any other birds that try to intrude their trees. They perform elaborate communications, with their greeting ceremony comprising of two or more birds engaged in an energetic display of bouncing, hopping, swinging and wing-flapping.

Breeding takes place between August to November. They nest in cavities in the Fig Tree’s branches, and females lay between two and four eggs which are then incubated for up to 15 days. Both parents share nesting and feeding of the newborn chicks. But they are parasitised by Lesser Honeyguides, who lay their own eggs in the barbet’s nest, leaving their young to be raised by the barbets.

Barbets eat a wide range of fruits, including figs as well as cultivated fruit and vegetables. The whole fruit is eaten and any indigestible materials, like seed pips, are later regurgitated. They are therefore good seed dispersers. They also eat a variety of insects, including ants, dragonflies, locusts, beetles, moths and scorpions as well as small reptiles such as frogs, geckos and lizards.

Conservation

Population Size: 5,200

Trend: decreasing

Chaplin’s Barbet are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. As they live outside protected areas human activities, such as agriculture and firewood collection, is reducing their habitats due their dependence on the Sycamore Fig Tree (Ficus sycomorus).

Over the past 20-30 years there has been a significant decline in their numbers.