Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology
1727-947X (Online)
1.1 (2024) Impact Factor
1.1 (2024) 5-year IF
2.1 (2024) CiteScore (Scopus)
Accredited with the DHET (SAPSE)
Latest Issue
Volume 97, Issue 1, 2026
Short Notes
Aggressive interactions by invasive Common Mynas Acridotheres tristis with urban birds in Pretoria, South Africa
Reduced Blue Crane Grus paradisea breeding productivity in intensive agricultural landscapes
Sand knobwood Zanthoxylum leprieurii as a keystone resource for birds in Nigeria: insights from observational counts and proximate analysis
Cape Gannet Morus capensis year-round presence off the southern Cape coast of South Africa
Research Articles
Breeding population status and nesting preferences of the White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus in western Serengeti, northern Tanzania
Large bird collision mortality on power lines in southern Namibia
Aims & Scope
Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology is the leading ornithological journal in Africa, and publishes peer-reviewed scientific papers and short communications on all aspects of ornithology conducted in Africa and its associated islands and marine habitats. Contributions reporting on avian behaviour, breeding, conservation, demography, ecology, migration, morphology and systematics are welcome. Review articles are particularly encouraged. Extended taxonomic papers may be considered for publication particularly if they include relevant discussion of behavioural, ecological or biogeographic criteria. The journal also publishes book reviews. Articles published in Ostrich are expected to be of value to ornithologists, ecologists, conservationists and interested bird-watchers. Ostrich is the scientific journal of BirdLife South Africa.
-
1930 - current Published as Ostrich
-
1929 - 1929
Editors
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Dr Martim Melo
Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO); Natural History and Science Museum, University of Porto, Portugal melo.martim@gmail.com
DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Dr Alan TK Lee
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DSI/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town;Centre for Functional Biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Dr Alexandre Caron, French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), Zimbabwe
Dr Anina Coetzee, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
Dr Derek Engelbrecht, University of Limpopo, South Africa
Dr Doug Harebottle, Sol Plaaitjie University, South Africa
Dr Soladaye B Iwajomo, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Dr Crinan Jarrett, Swiss Ornithological Institute, Switzerland
Dr Michel Louette, Africamuseum, Belgium
Dr Machawe Maphalala, University of Eswatini, Eswatini
Dr Susan Miller, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DSI/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Dr Matthew J Noakes, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Dr Graeme Oatley, University of Otago, New Zealand
Dr Krista Oswald, Rhodes University, South Africa
Dr Ulf Ottosson, Ottenby Bird Observatory, Sweden
Dr Amanda R Ridley, University of Western Australia, Australia; University of Cape Town, South Africa
Prof. Peter Ryan, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DSI/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, South Africa
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Dr Imad Cherkaoui, Moulay Ismail University, Morocco
Prof. Adrian Craig, Rhodes University, South Africa
Prof. Colleen Downs, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Dr Melissa Howes-Whitecross, BirdLife South Africa, South Africa
Dr David Maphisa, South African National Biodiversity Institute, South Africa, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Dr Samuel Temidayo Osinubi, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DSI/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Dr Lizanne Roxburgh, Endangered Wildlife Trust, South Africa
Dr Manu Shiiwua, AP Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, Nigeria
BOOK REVIEWS EDITOR
Ms Janine Dunlop FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, South Africa
ABSTRACT TRANSLATORS
Dr Imad Cherkaoui, Moulay Ismail University, Morocco
Ms Celine Geiger, Environmental engineer, France
Alexandre Thouzeau, Independent environmental consultant, France
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Mr. Cameron Blair, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Twitter: @ostrichJAO
SUBMISSIONS
All manuscripts presented in accordance with instructions to authors should be submitted to the online at the Taylor & Francis Submissions Portal (https://rp.tandfonline.com/submission/create?journalCode=TOST).
PUBLISHING MANAGER
Contact regarding all aspects relating to the production of the journal, including scheduling and copyright issues:
Dr Kelly-Anne Frith
NISC (Pty) Ltd
4 Speke Street
PO Box 377
Makhanda 6140
South Africa
Tel: +27 (0)46 622 9698
Fax: +27 (0)46 622 9550
e-mail: publishing@nisc.co.za
Published in association with BirdLife South Africa:
BirdLife South Africa (http://www.birdlife.org.za/) is the lead organisation in South Africa for everyone interested in birds and their survival. It has 8 000 members in 40 branches and affiliates throughout South Africa. Their mission is to promote the enjoyment, conservation and understanding and study of wild birds and their habitat. BirdLife South Africa runs national and branch programmes on conservation, education, training and awareness.
For more information about membership to BirdLife South Africa contact:
Tel: +27 (0)11 789 1122
e-mail: membership@birdlife.co.za
Instructions for Authors
Instructions for Authors
The journal will publish refereed scientific papers, reviews, perspectives and short communications containing the results of original work within the general field of ornithology in Africa and its islands. Reviews of relevant books will also be published. All communications, with the exception of book reviews, will be scrutinised by referees. The journal adheres strictly to a double-anonymized review process.
Editorial policy: Contributions must conform to the principles outlined in Ethical Considerations in Research Publication available for download below. Submission of a manuscript implies that the material has not been published previously, nor is it being submitted elsewhere for publication. Submission of a manuscript will be taken to imply transfer of copyright of the material to the publishers, NISC. Contributions are accepted on the understanding that the authors have the authority for publication. Material published in this journal may not be reprinted, published in translation or mounted on any electronic repository without the express permission of the publishers, NISC (Pty) Ltd.
Manuscripts: All manuscripts should follow the manuscript format outlined below and will be returned to the authors if not. Manuscripts should be submitted in English in MS Word via the Taylor & Francis Submissions Portal. New users should first create an account. Should you have difficulty submitting material online, please notify us at info@nisc.co.za. A recent issue of Ostrich should be consulted for general layout and style.
Manuscript format: Sections — All pages must be numbered consecutively, including those containing the references, tables and figures. Authors must also insert line numbering. Text should be written in clear English (UK spelling) and divided into the following sections in this order:
(1) Abstract (not exceeding 300 words)
(2) Keywords
(3) Introduction
(4) Methods
(5) Results
(6) Discussion
(7) Acknowledgements
(8) References
(9) Tables
(10) Appendices
(11) Figure legends
Short Communications should include an Abstract and Keywords, but no other subheadings in the body text.
Figures — Ensure figures conform to the journal style. Pay particular attention to line thickness, font and figure proportions, taking into account the journals printed page size. Costs of redrawing figures may be charged. Please refer to Figure Guidelines for Authors: format, technical considerations and style available for download below. For digital photographs or scanned images the resolution should be at least 300 dpi for colour or greyscale artwork and a minimum of 600 dpi for black line drawings. These can be saved (in order of preference) as PSD, TIFF, EPS, PDF or JPEG files. Graphs, charts or maps should be exported as AI, WMF, EMF, EPS, PDF or SVG files. MS Powerpoint and Excel files are acceptable. Do not embed images in the Word document, rather use "Insert Picture from File". More detailed technical information is given in Figure Guidelines for Authors. Illustrations can be reproduced in colour, but only when essential, and subject to approval by the Editor-in-Chief. Non-essential use of colour will be charged at ZAR900 (excl. VAT) per page for African contributors and USD75 per page for contributors from elsewhere.
Tables — Each table, numbered with Arabic numerals in the order in which they are to appear, must be on a separate page with the table number and an appropriate stand-alone caption. Tables may include up to five horizontal lines but no vertical lines.
References — References to literature within an article must be arranged chronologically in the following forms: Swart (1972); Swart (1972a, 1972b); Swart and White (1973); Swart (1972, 1973); (Swart 1970, Smith 1971). For more than two authors, use the first author’s name followed by et al. (e.g. Urban et al. 1997). At the end of the manuscript list references alphabetically and then chronologically, using full journal titles, and adhere to the following formats (for additional examples refer to Reference Exemplars for Authors).
Payne RB, Payne LL. 1997. Field observations, experimental design, and the time and place of learning in bird songs. In: Snowdon C, Hausberger M (eds), Social influences on vocal development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp 57–84.
Urban EK, Fry CH, Keith S (eds). 1997. The birds of Africa, vol. 5. London: Academic Press.
Vergara P, Aguirre JI, Fernández-Cruz M. 2007. Arrival date, age and breeding success in White Stork Ciconia ciconia. Journal of Avian Biology 38: 573–579.
Roberts Birds of Southern Africa (and other such edited regional works): Please note that when referencing a single species account, the author of that account should be cited, for example:
du Plessis MA. 2005. Green Woodhoopoe. In: Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ, Ryan PG (eds), Roberts birds of southern Africa (7th edn). Cape Town: Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. pp 162–164.
However, when referencing multiple accounts (e.g. extracting clutch-size data) the entire volume should be cited:
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ, Ryan PG (eds). 2005. Roberts birds of southern Africa (7th edn). Cape Town: Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund.
Conventions: The English name of a species is capitalised (e.g. Southern Brown-throated Weaver) but not the name of a group of species (e.g. robins, weavers). Scientific names of genera and species – but not family names – and foreign words should be italicised. Trinomials may be used only when accurately known and essential to the results and discussion. Both the English and scientific names must be cited when a species is first mentioned but thereafter only one need be used. The English and scientific names of a species should follow the IOC world bird list (https://www.worldbirdnames.org). For southern African birds, please mention alternative names should these differ from those of the IOC according to official BirdLife South Africa checklists (https://www.birdlife.org.za/media-and-resources/bird-checklists); for example, Hadada (Hadeda) Ibis Bostrychia hadedash. Metric symbols and their international symbols are used throughout as is the decimal point and the 24-hour clock (e.g. 08:00, 17:25). Dates should be written as 13 July 1973. Ranges should have an en dash (3–5 km). There should be a space before unit terms (23 °C, 5 kg, 5 kg d–¹ etc.) except for percentages (5%). Use ‘mass’ instead of ‘weight’. The UK spelling convention should be followed. There should be a single space between sentences. The period (.) must be used as the decimal indicator, and spaces must appear before the third digit to the left of the decimal point (e.g. 1 234.56 g). Thousands/millions should be marked with a space and not a comma. The significance of statistical tests should be written in the form p < 0.001, and use ns for not significant. For stylistic conventinos, refer to Presentation of Mathematial and Statistical Data available for download.
Electronic reprints: Authors will be notified by email when their article is available for download from the Taylor & Francis website.
Open access: Ostrich is a hybrid journal which allows authors the option of publishing their article Open Access for a set fee. Further details are given on the Open Access at NISC page.