20 June 2008
Issue # 2

Dear hadeda enthusiasts

This is our second newsletter and another update on our project. The first newsletter was sent out in March and we hope that you like the new format. If you are receiving this for the first time please note that the file will either be displayed in the body of the email or will come as an attachment. If it comes as an attachment, by double-clicking it, it will open in your default browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Opera, Firefox) but you will need to be connected to the internet in order to view any images.

1. Breeding update

There was a bit of a lull in hadeda breeding activity over the last three months (March-May). Even though we were aware of one or two successful breeding attempts recently, we have started to call this time of the year the hadeda non-breeding season. Clearly some pairs breed at any time during the year.

Recently, however, lots of pairs have started building nests again, and we are preparing to climb more trees. Please let us know if you come across an active hadeda nest. Most of you know of one or several places where hadedas bred earlier, and we would be grateful if you could check these locations every now and then.

2. Ringing and resighting update

We have had 23 more resightings of ringed hadedas since the last newsletter. Most of the resightings were of birds that we ringed last year and they have considerably improved our data base on survival of fledged young. We reported earlier that it looks like one in four fledglings may die during its first month, and only one in ten survives to its first birthday. With the new data, these results remain similar, but have become much more precise. However, if a bird disappears we generally do not know whether it died or moved away to some area that we are not surveying. True survival is therefore certainly higher and we are very keen to try and get more information on movements and dispersal of young hadeads.

Some information on movement comes from the resightings. Most individuals were resighted near their birth place, but a hadeda that we ringed in Rondebosch was seen during a roost count at Die Oog Bird Sanctuary in Bergvliet, a few weeks ago. It sat next to another ringed hadeda, which we had ringed nearby. The farthest movement that we recorded, however, is still the bird that moved from Somerset West to Constantia, more than a year ago.

A BIG thank you to all who have spotted ringed hadedas, went through the trouble reading the letter code on the colour ring, and reported the sighting to us. These are really extremely important data for us, and over our large study area it would be very difficult for us to collect this information without your help.

Photo: Magda Remisiewicz	During March we tried our hands at catching adult hadedas. Together with some Polish ringers we designed noose traps and experimented in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Here Doug and Vlodek Meissner set the noose and bait the area with tasty hadeda morsels (snails and grubs).
It didn't take long before the group of hadedas found the tasty morsels but they cleverly leaned over the noose to get to the food. Although we did manage to catch one bird the noose line snapped and the bird managed to escape. Further catching attempts are planned for the future.	Photo: Magda Remisiewicz

With the help of some of you, we also conducted another survey to estimate how many hadedas we have in the area spanning Simonstown, Cape Town, north to Milnerton, and east to Goodwood and Durbanville. The results are similar to the last census we conducted in October last year, about 3000-4000 hadedas (this is about 20-30 hadedas per square km). It is certainly too early to look at trends at this time but these surveys are providing a first initial estimate of the hadeda population in greater Cape Town. We appreciate the assistance of all who contributed to this survey.

Thank you all for your ongoing help and interest. Please keep reporting active hadeda nests and resightings of ringed individuals, or if you make any other interesting observations on hadedas.

Res Altwegg (Tel. 021 799 8809) and Doug Harebottle (Tel. 021 650 2330)

Project Coordinators