David Allan on KwaZulu-Natal seabirds

The KwaZulu-Natal coastline forms an important part of the great, global seabird highway, attracting threatened bird species throughout the year. The migration trends, intricate behaviour patterns and importance within the ecosystem will all form part of the monthly Crocworld Conservation Centre talk on Saturday, 13 July from 9am to 10am, presented by renowned ornithologist, David Allan.

“Crocworld Conservation Centre is delighted to welcome David Allan back for the popular monthly talk that gives visitors really interesting insights into our local plant and animal life,” said Martin Rodrigues, Manager of Crocworld Conservation Centre. “Effective conservation relies on education. Through these monthly talks, we hope to connect people with their local environment in the hopes of preserving our vulnerable species. David Allan has an impactful way of enlightening audiences on the unique bird species and visitors will really benefit from this talk.”

Meet David Allan

For the past 22 years, David has held the position of Curator of Birds at the Durban Natural Science Museum, but his expertise in birdlife spans even further. His career in ornithology started at the erstwhile Transvaal Division of Nature Conservation where he worked on birds of prey and threatened birds of the Highveld grasslands. David worked for nearly a decade at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) FitzPatrick Institute (Fitztitute) where he studied cranes and bustards, before moving on to the then Avian Demography Unit (ADU) - also at UCT - where he was the fieldworker for the first bird atlas project.

He has authored and co-authored several books on birds of prey, a volume on geographical variation in southern African birds and, most recently, on the cranes of southern Africa. He was one of the co-editors of the published first Atlas of Southern African Birds and has been a regular contributor to the glossy magazines Africa - Birds & Birding, and its successor, African Birdlife.

David has presented innumerable popular talks and courses over his long career to diverse audiences of birders throughout South Africa. His interest in pelagic seabirds was sparked during his time living in Cape Town, and has continued when he moved to Durban. He has subsequently led almost 100 pelagic seabird trips off Durban over the past two decades.

Talk on KZN seabirds

David’s Crocworld Conservation Centre talk entitled “Pelagic seabirds off the KZN coast - a window into a global procession” will focus on the planet’s greatest wanderers - pelagic seabirds, including albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters,

Powered by ceaseless marine winds, these birds roam widely over the vast expanses of the globe’s oceans, with some circumnavigating the planet as they circle the great Southern Ocean or migrate between the furthest reaches of the northern and southern hemispheres.

David will introduce audiences to the diversity of pelagic seabirds off the KwaZulu-Natal coast - describing their abundance, the far-flung regions from which they come, the times of year when they visit, and the long-term population trends of these threatened birds. The talk will be enlivened by David’s own photographs taken during his pelagic seabird trips.

The cost of the tickets is R50 per person and includes entrance into the centre as well as an Early Bird Breakfast with tea or coffee. For more information or to make a booking, contact Morne van Zyl at the Fish Eagle Café on 083 658 7073 or email mvanzyl@cbl.co.za. Alternatively, contact Martin Rodrigues on 078 484 1859 or Crocworld Conservation Centre on 039 976 1103