ROCKJUMPER BIRDING
Interview with Adam Riley

Do you have a favourite birding destination? Where and why?
Anywhere in the tropical Andes. These equatorial mountains host mega biodiversity, a pleasant climate, amazing scenery, and incredible birding.

What makes it a special place for a birding safari?
It is home to some of the most spectacular birds and has the most bird species of any destination in the world. To illustrate, Colombia which is slightly smaller than South Africa has just short of 2,000 bird species whereas South Africa is on 850.

The sun is setting. Tea, G&T, or beer?
G&T

Where would you like to drink it on one of your safaris? Why there?
Zebra Hills Safari Lodge in Zululand, South Africa. It’s my happy place. It has amazing scenery and I’ve had really cool big game and birding experiences there over the years.

Your bird book must have some stories. What is the most memorable experience you have shared?
Recently being the first westerner to see a newly-discovered species in Colombia, which hasn’t even been named yet.

Tell us about your favourite African destination. Is there anything in particular people travel there to see? What do you recommend people should be on the lookout for?
Uganda is my favourite African destination. It’s reasonably small, but it’s one of the few countries with over 1,000 species. It has lowland rainforest, mountain forest, savannah, and papyrus swamps and this habitat diversity makes for extremely high species diversity. The main two things people go there to see are the shoebill and mountain gorillas.

Within Uganda, I recommend Murchison Falls; the highland section of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park called Ruhija which is really beautiful and great for birding; and Budongo Forest, a great place to see lowland rainforest birds and chimps.

You can visit Uganda at any time of year, but January or February is a great because European migrants are around and you can see up to 250 species per day. June and July are also good months with less rain and, at this time, the sought-after Green-breasted Pittas display.

Is there anywhere else you love going on safari and why?
Antarctica is the journey of a lifetime, which I’ve been fortunate enough to go on. Papua New Guinea for its birds-of-paradise. India also has very approachable birds – and tigers. Everywhere has its attraction if you’re into birds!

Is birding a hobby that became a job or a job that became a hobby? Tell us a little about your history of birding and how it has culminated in Rockjumper.
It was a hobby that became a job. I became an avid birder when I was given a Robert’s Birds of Southern Africa for Christmas when I was 13. I didn’t ever consider it a potential career choice, however, and chose instead to become a chartered accountant. However, in my final year of articles, a buddy who had recently qualified as a doctor and I started Rockjumper. The idea was to put our careers on hold for a few years to have some fin before returning to our chosen professions. That was 22 years ago and I hope I’ll never have to get a real job.

Scores of African travellers search Africa for the Big 5 of wildlife. Is there a Big 5 of birds in Southern Africa?
No, there’s not really an official big 5 of birds. Everyone will have their individual most wanted lists and I’m guessing, for everyone, African Pitta would be right near the top.

Do you have a preferred reference text/app for birding in Africa?
Robert’s bird app is the best for Southern Africa. A free bird app covering the whole of Africa produced by the African Bird Club will soon be available. Birdlasser or eBird are great apps for recording your bird sightings and allowing them to be used in a scientific database.