Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 13 hours ago
#Shorts
We were walking through @sanbi_za @kirstenbosch_nbg , listening for life. As we walked, we noticed an intermittent high pitched "tweep". We slowed down to try to find the voice artist, looking around for signs of life. In an aloe right next to the path, we spotted what looked to be an old, broken nest of a bird. Thinking that the home had long been vacated, we went a little closer, only for the "Tweeper" we had heard earlier to appear. Flushed from it's nest, a beautiful Southern Double-collared Sunbird chick perched on a branch.
We spent the next half an hour watching as this voluptuous baby was fed by both their mom and dad as they sat in wait, "tweeping" occasionally before speeding up their tweeps as a parent came in with a bite to eat. If we had used only our eyes, a "broken and abandoned" nest might have led us to believe that there was no wildlife to be experienced there. This is why we listen to life, because there is so much that cannot be experienced through sight alone. Bioacoustic studies often pick up on animals that would otherwise remain undetected. This method of study can be particularly helpful with threatened species.
Help support our work by donating: givengain.com/campaign/african-bioacoustics-community?fbclid=IwAR0jy3OC-lVFclCQoM_NTxhJuH0aZjcgtl4hdZD07khDuYnLDexBuCn66S4
#Shorts
We were walking through @sanbi_za @kirstenbosch_nbg , listening for life. As we walked, we noticed an intermittent high pitched "tweep". We slowed down to try to find the voice artist, looking around for signs of life. In an aloe right next to the path, we spotted what looked to be an old, broken nest of a bird. Thinking that the home had long been vacated, we went a little closer, only for the "Tweeper" we had heard earlier to appear. Flushed from it's nest, a beautiful Southern Double-collared Sunbird chick perched on a branch.
We spent the next half an hour watching as this voluptuous baby was fed by both their mom and dad as they sat in wait, "tweeping" occasionally before speeding up their tweeps as a parent came in with a bite to eat. If we had used only our eyes, a "broken and abandoned" nest might have led us to believe that there was no wildlife to be experienced there. This is why we listen to life, because there is so much that cannot be experienced through sight alone. Bioacoustic studies often pick up on animals that would otherwise remain undetected. This method of study can be particularly helpful with threatened species.
Help support our work by donating: givengain.com/campaign/african-bioacoustics-community?fbclid=IwAR0jy3OC-lVFclCQoM_NTxhJuH0aZjcgtl4hdZD07khDuYnLDexBuCn66S4
