Photos & Videos

Photographs and video of African Harrier-Hawks in Cape Town, sent in by the people who share the city with them.

Why footage is worth so much here

Most of what has been written about African Harrier-Hawk behaviour rests on someone watching once and writing it down afterwards. Photographs and video change what we can do with an observation.

Thirty seconds of a bird working into a weaver colony, feeding a chick, or hanging off a wall can be watched again, timed, and set alongside other records. A photograph of a bird with prey tells us what it is eating. Even a shaky phone clip of one being mobbed is more use than a written note.

If you can film it, please do. There is no such thing as footage too ordinary.

Contributed gallery

Images sent in by observers and published with their permission.

Juvenile African Harrier-Hawk, dark form, perched
Adult African Harrier-Hawk perched
Adult African Harrier-Hawk perched in a garden
Send your images! Perched, in flight, clambering, being mobbed — all of it is useful
We check images before they go up. Anything showing a recognisable spot near an active nest is kept for research and does not appear here. Photographers are credited by name unless they ask us not to.

Still sequences

Three photographs of a juvenile African Harrier-Hawk extracting palm weevil grubs from a palm, and the opened casings left behind
Four photographs of an adult African Harrier-Hawk bathing in a stream

Video

Behaviour footage contributed to the study, published with permission.

An adult hunts a mouse in a palm — the catch, then the kill.
© 2025 Virginie Harel. Claremont, April 2025. Used with permission.
Stripping bark, working the trunk for anything hiding underneath.
© 2026 Heather. Pinelands, 20 August 2026. Used with permission.
A juvenile scouring its way up a gum, checking every crevice.
© 2026 Anet Nepgen. Constantia. Used with permission.
A juvenile works a Hadeda Ibis nest while the pair mob it.
© 2026 Robyn Beyers. Fish Hoek, July 2026. Used with permission.
Two pairs mating at the start of the breeding season.
First clip © 2026 Thato Sejake. Second clip © 2026 Cheryl Kirsten. Used with permission.
A juvenile hangs from a weaver colony, reaching into the nests for chicks.
© 2026 Byron Rose. Table View, 29 August 2026. Used with permission.

More footage goes up on the news page as it comes in, alongside what we are learning from it.

See the latest footage

Sending us photos or video

Everything comes through the main sighting form. It takes photo uploads and a video link, so there is no need to submit twice — and putting a date and a place with the image is what turns a nice photograph into a record we can use.

If a video file is too big to email, put it on YouTube, Google Drive, Dropbox or WeTransfer and paste the link into the form. Just check the sharing setting allows anyone with the link to open it.

Go to the sighting form