Page 34 - Thola Issue 17

32 Bird Department
David Allan, Curator of Birds, provides a detailed overview of the Bird Department’s challenging and memorable year.
TAKE TO
THE SKIES
ABOVE: Onica Mukhuwana, Ornithology Technician and David Allan, Curator of Birds, undergoing training in bird skinning at the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History.
Book Fund at the Research Centre. The annual conference of the International Council of Museums was attended
in August, and a paper examining publication trends in the scientific journals produced by South African museums was delivered, also at the Research Centre.
A two-day trip to Cape Town was made in October to attend meetings
of the Birds and Wind Energy Specialist Group and Birds and Wind Energy Forum. In the same month, a five-
day workshop on estuaries along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline was attended at the CSIR offices in Durban. A training workshop on waterbird surveying techniques was hosted at the Research Centre in November on behalf of BirdLife South Africa and featured Dr Szabolcs Nagy of Wetlands International.
Particularly memorable was time spent with Ornithology Technician, Onica Mukhuwana, in Pretoria at the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History early in the year. We were hosted by Greg Davies and Faansie Peacock of Ditsong’s Bird Department. The purpose of our extended stay was to undergo state-of-the-art training
in the preparation of bird study skins.
Last year held several highlights for the Bird Department. One significant new challenge was taking the Museum’s ‘orphan’ shell collection under our wing, as described elsewhere in this edition of Thola. The monthly waterbird counts in Durban Bay proceeded as normal and several exciting pelagic seabird trips
were undertaken. A series of species accounts covering most of the vulture species in southern Africa was prepared for the new red data bird book, which is currently in preparation.
A workshop on revising Roberts Birds of Southern Africa was hosted in May on behalf of the John Voelcker Bird
thola: VOLUME 17. 2014/15
Photo credit: Greg Davies