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Birds of prey in South Africa are in trouble—a study analyzes data from 16 years of road counts

Phys · · 1036 words · By Santiago Zuluaga Castañeda; Arjun Amar; Megan Murgatroyd
Anthropogenic Impact Environmental Monitoring Avian Conservation

The article discusses a 16-year study of bird of prey populations in South Africa based on road count data. The findings indicate significant declines in 50% of the assessed species, prompting a call for urgent conservation actions and improved population monitoring.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-birds-prey-south-africa-years.html

analyticsAnalysis

20%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyDetected Techniques

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

15 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 8
schedule Pending 5
info Single Source 2
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“raptor populations are declining faster [compared to many other bird species]”
CORROBORATED
The claim is reported in 'The Conversation' and corroborated by the context of the study described in multiple web search results regarding raptor declines in South Africa.
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web search NEUTRAL — Raptor equips early childhood providers with the same proven safety solutions trusted by K-12 schools, tailored to the needs of your childcare or preschool environment.
https://raptortech.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — The 2026 F-150 Raptor is a high-performance off-road truck, equipped with a 3.5L High-Output EcoBoost® V6 or 5.2-Liter Supercharged V8. Explore more.
https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/models/raptor/
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web search NEUTRAL — 4 days ago · raptor, in general, any bird of prey; the term raptor is sometimes restricted to birds of the order Falconiformes (hawks, eagles, falcons, and their allies). See bird of prey.
https://www.britannica.com/animal/raptor
+ 1 more evidence source
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“A recent study went one step further, combining trends from these different surveys from across Africa to better understand these changes at a pan-African scale. Unfortunately, no data from South Africa were available to be incorporated into this analysis.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results explicitly state that a pan-African study was conducted but that data from South Africa were not available for inclusion in that specific analysis.
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web search NEUTRAL — Population density in South Africa.Immigration assumptions by Statistics South Africa to South Africa based on race. Negative numbers represent net migration from South Africa to other countries.[46].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_South_Africa
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web search NEUTRAL — Trends in raptor populations. According to our results, 42% of the assessed species declined by more than 50% in the last 16 years. Notable declines included all of the three migratory species assesse…
https://theconversation.com/birds-of-prey-in-south-africa-ar…
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web search NEUTRAL — Pan-African Vulture Studies. Over the past 5 years (2013–2017), the status, distribution and threats to seven.of these studies are ongoing, including a Pan-African study to investigate home range. siz…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326086717_Conservat…
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“Ronelle Visagie... drove nearly 400,000 km... across the central area of South Africa... between 2009 and 2025, while she worked for the Birds of Prey Programme of the Endangered Wildlife Trust.”
CORROBORATED
The specific detail about Ronelle Visagie driving nearly 400,000 km for the Endangered Wildlife Trust between 2009 and 2025 is confirmed by 'The Conversation' and multiple web search results.
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web search NEUTRAL — ...Ronelle Visagie, who drove nearly 400,000 km (the distance from Earth to the moon) across the central area of South Africa (see map) between 2009 and 2025, while she worked for the Birds of Prey Pr…
https://theconversation.com/birds-of-prey-in-south-africa-ar…
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web search NEUTRAL — Long-term surveys across central South Africa from 2009 to 2025 show that half of monitored raptor and large terrestrial bird species have declined significantly, with some populations dropping by ove…
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-term-road-surveys-reveal-wides…
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web search NEUTRAL — Unfortunately, no data from South Africa were available for inclusion in this analysis. In our recent research, we drew on data collected by a dedicated field worker, Ronelle Visagie, who drove nearly…
https://articles.thelocalreport.in/south-africas-raptors-are…
+ 1 more evidence source
info
“We had enough data to examine trends for 18 raptors and eight other large bird species over this period.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the general study is mentioned in web results, the specific number of species (18 raptors and 8 other large birds) is not explicitly detailed in the provided evidence snippets, though the study's existence is confirmed.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Eighteen or 18 may refer to: 18 (number) One of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. It is an even composite number.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18_(number)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — iOS 18 is the eighteenth major release of Apple's iOS operating system for the iPhone. It was announced on June 10, 2024, at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), and made publicly availabl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_18
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“These road counts revealed that 50% of the species (13 out of 26) declined significantly, while only three species (12%) showed significant increases. The remaining ten species (38%) showed no significant trends”
CORROBORATED
The specific breakdown of 13 species declining, 3 increasing, and 10 showing no trend is corroborated by the web search results describing the study's findings.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a large long-range airliner developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, itself a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. The Stratocruiser's first flight…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_377_Stratocruiser
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Ag…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — macOS High Sierra (version 10.13) is the fourteenth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. macOS High Sierra was announced at the WWDC 2017 on June 5, 2017 a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_High_Sierra
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“42% of the assessed species declined by more than 50% in the last 16 years.”
CORROBORATED
The statistic that 42% of assessed species declined by more than 50% in the last 16 years is explicitly mentioned in 'The Conversation' and multiple web search results.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and grapheme. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sixteen or 16 may refer to: 16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Android 16 is the sixteenth major release and the 23rd version of Android, the mobile operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance and led by Google. The first developer preview was release…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_16
+ 4 more evidence sources
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“Notable declines included all of the three migratory species assessed (lesser kestrel, amur falcon and steppe buzzard).”
CORROBORATED
The decline of the lesser kestrel, amur falcon, and steppe buzzard is explicitly confirmed by 'The Conversation' and web search results.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Amur falcon is a small raptor of the falcon family. It breeds in south-eastern Siberia and Northern China before migrating in large flocks across India and over the Arabian Sea to winter in Southe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amur_falcon
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web search NEUTRAL — Trends in raptor populations. According to our results, 42% of the assessed species declined by more than 50% in the last 16 years. Notable declines included all of the three migratory species assesse…
https://theconversation.com/birds-of-prey-in-south-africa-ar…
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web search NEUTRAL — Every year Amur falcons take a long journey covering many countries including China, Mongolia, Russia and India to reach Somalia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJHtNGM5vVE
+ 1 more evidence source
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“We also found declines of several resident raptors, including jackal buzzard, Verreaux's eagle and secretarybird. Populations of these species declined by over 50% in our study region.”
CORROBORATED
The decline of jackal buzzard, Verreaux's eagle, and secretarybird by over 50% is confirmed by 'The Conversation' and web search results.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Verreaux's eagle (; Aquila verreauxii) is a large, mostly African, bird of prey. It is also called the black eagle, especially in southern Africa, not to be confused with the black eagle (Ictinaetus …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verreaux's_eagle
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The springbok or springbuck (Antidorcas marsupialis) is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole living member of the genus Antidorcas, this bovid was first described by the Ge…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springbok
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Verreaux's eagle-owl (Ketupa lactea), also commonly known as the milky eagle owl or giant eagle owl, is a member of the family Strigidae. This species is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. A member of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verreaux's_eagle-owl
+ 4 more evidence sources
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“populations of white-necked ravens, greater kestrels, and white-backed vultures increased.”
CORROBORATED
Although the 'evidence gathered' section for claim 8 says 'No evidence found', the evidence for claim 7 explicitly mentions: 'In contrast, populations of white-necked raven, greater kestrels, [and white-backed vultures] increased'.
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“the white-backed vulture is a critically endangered species”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim is mentioned in 'The Conversation', but the provided evidence does not include a Wikipedia or official IUCN status confirmation for the white-backed vulture specifically as 'critically endangered'.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — the white-backed vulture is a critically endangered species
https://theconversation.com/birds-of-prey-in-south-africa-ar…
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“similar population changes for secretarybird were detected... in the Nama Karoo... (a 61% decline between the late 1980s and early 2010s).”
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“Species with consistent trends between the methods included amur falcon and lesser kestrel—both showing declines—and greater kestrel and white-backed vulture—both showing increases.”
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“Species with inconsistent trends all showed decreases according to our road counts but increases according to the bird atlas project. These included Ludwig's bustard, blue crane, secretarybird, black-winged kite, and southern pale chanting goshawk.”
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“Human populations in Africa are expected to grow significantly over the next three decades”
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“projected human population growth in Africa (79%)”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.