Denham's Bustard - Regular visitor

We are often treated to sightings of the near threatened Denham's Bustard on the southern grasslands of Welgevonden. These majestic birds spend most of their days foraging for arthropods, small vertebrates and vegetable matter on the grasslands. In the late afternoon, after a day of foraging, we often be seen them flying back to roosting spots.

In a resent internet publication BidLife South Africa mentions that these birds fly back to the their roosting spots in groups during low light conditions and due to their limited manoeuvrability are not able to avoid electricity cables in their flight path. Recent studies have found that, in some species, on average, one Bustard collides with power line for every kilometre of transmission power-line (>132 kV) per year. There are approximately 16,000 km of transmission power-lines criss-crossing crucial habits, so we could be losing more than 10,000 birds a year.

Just another example of how the untented concequences of development can negatively impact our wildlife.

Reference: Bird Life South Africa - https://www.birdlife.org.za/conservation/terrestrial-bird-conservation/threatened-species/bustards-and-korhaans