Our guests, who are enjoying the safari looking for the big animals, are completely surprised when their guide Sean suddenly stops and pulls out his camera. He eagerly tries to take a picture of a small bird that stand on the ground and later presents itself once again on a tree. That must be a special bird…

Sean is halfway happy with the photo. "This is Crimson-breasted Shrike," says Sean. He shows the photos to the astonished guests on his vehicle. They are not really bird lovers, and yet they are curious to know what this is all about.

The crimson-breasted shrike (or gonolek, boubou or morph) is a southern African bird. It has black upper parts with a white flash on the wing, and bright scarlet underparts. It is one of the many species of birds seen in Madikwe Game Reserve and quite common. This is nothing special in itself.

Sean tells: "This one is very special. This kind is yellow-breasted. It is the first time I see this kind since I started to work in Madikwe six years ago.” The yellow-breasted Crimson-breasted shrike is very rare in general. When it was discovered, the first thought was to classify it as a separate species. There are forums where people post their photos of this rare bird and tell how happy they are about the sighting.

Our guests rarely want to learn about the fascinating world of birds. But small, exciting stories like these still fascinate everyone.