Bird Talks and Workshops
Scroll through Melissa’s range of talk titles below…
All talks below are given as 45 minute lectures except where indicated as a potential half-day workshop.
Secretarybirds - Sentinels of Africa’s Rangelands
Melissa Whitecross has shared a life-long connection to the iconic Secretarybird. She had the opportunity to contribute to BirdLife South Africa’s Secretarybird Conservation Project, established in 2011, during her tenure with the environmental NGO. Melissa was part of the global team to review the status of this unique bird of prey which was uplisted to globally Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2020 owing to declines across its global range. The Secretarybird is only found in sub-Saharan Africa and the reality of the extinction risk facing this large terrestrial bird of prey cannot be overlooked. Over the past two decades more has been learnt about the movements and behaviour of these birds through a dedicated tracking study, spearheaded by BirdLife South Africa and its collaborators. In this talk Melissa will share her passion and insights into Secretarybird biology and conservation and provide an update on how conservation and research efforts are progressing for the species.
Forest Phantoms: Southern Banded Snake Eagles of KwaZulu-Natal
The South Banded Snake Eagle (Circatus fasciolatus) is an elusive but top predator living in the coastal forests of the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt in northern KwaZulu-Natal stretching up to the southern edge of Somalia along Africa's eastern shores. In South Africa, these birds are considered very rare, where an estimated fewer than 50 mature individuals remain in the fragmented forests of northern KwaZulu-Natal. During her time at BirdLife South Africa, Melissa coordinated a project on these locally Critically Endangered raptors to begin to understand how changes in land use, including turning indigenous forests into alien plantations, mines, and towns, have affected the distribution of the Southern Banded Snake Eagle. She also leveraged data from trackers and citizen science projects, to successfully mitigate the threat of transformer box electrocutions within the priority range of this species in partnership with Eskom. Join Melissa as she shares her insights into unpacking the hidden lives of South Africa's forest phantoms.
The Status of South Africa’s Black Storks
The Black Stork is a large bird that relies on healthy water bodies to find food and survive. Unlike their migratory relatives in Asia and Europe, Black Storks in southern Africa are resident throughout the year and nest on cliffs rather than trees. Unfortunately, they are at risk of extinction with South Africa’s population recently uplisted to Endangered based on a declining population since the mid-1900s. During her time at BirdLife South Africa, Melissa was fortunate to coordinate a three-year survey of the historical Black Stork nesting areas, like the Luvhuvhu and Mutale Rivers in Kruger National Park, where many nests have been abandoned and little evidence of recent breeding has been seen. Melissa will share how this survey and a detailed study of where these birds are found, using data from the BirdLasser app and the Southern African Bird Atlas Project has provided evidence for their recent status change. Melissa will close out the talk with insights into some of the key conservation recommendations for the species.
An Ecologist’s Guide to Birding South Africa’s Grasslands
The Grasslands make up a third of South Africa's terrestrial surface area and are home to many of South Africa's sought after endemic species. At a distance, grasslands may seem uniform and mundane, but dig a little deeper and you will uncover a complex ecosystem full of microhabitats and niches which grassland birds have evolved to exploit. This highly dynamic habitat is driven by fires, frost and grazers, with grassland birds having to constantly adapt to the changes in composition and structure. Understanding the finer details of a grassland's ecology can provide a birder with a new set of skills to aid in their pursuit of finding and correctly identifying those elusive grassland specials. Join Dr Melissa Whitecross as she unlocks the ecological codes underlying grassland birding and provides you with the skills to bird like an ecologist.
This talk can be given as a 45 minute lecture or a half day workshop (4 hours).
Bringing Bird Conservation into the Classroom
Birds are an incredibly powerful tool for teaching. Their diversity and complex social behaviours create incredible metaphors for all sorts of lessons both in and outside of the classroom. There are over 11 500 species around the world, each adapted and specialised to fill their unique niche in the world. Being highly mobile creatures, birds also provide a useful indicator of what is happening around us and we can infer much about the natural world for the presence (or absence) of a species from a place. Dr Melissa Whitecross has always been fascinated by birds and has been able to spend over 15 years studying and conserving them. Melissa will share insights into the world of birds and birdwatching and unpack some of the important lessons, tools and opportunities birds can provide educators to engage their learners in new and exciting ways that will ultimately benefit humanity and the biodiversity we share this planet with.
