Description
Eight live online lessons. Every raptor in southern Africa. Taught by one of the country’s leading bird specialists — without you ever leaving home.
Join FGASA Specialist Bird Guide Martin Taylor for a four-week deep dive into the eagles, owls, vultures, falcons, harriers, kites, buzzards and accipiters that rule our skies. Live on Zoom, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 25 August 2026.
Meet the Hunters of the African Sky
From the silent flight of an owl to the 320 km/h dive of a peregrine falcon, southern Africa’s raptors are nature’s most elegant predators — and most of us walk straight past them without ever truly seeing them.
“Eyes Above the Bush” is your invitation to change that.
Over four weeks and eight live online lessons, FGASA Specialist Bird Guide Martin Taylor — lead editor of the 2015 Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland and one of the continent’s most travelled birders — will walk you through every raptor family found in southern Africa. Anatomy. Behaviour. Identification. And the extraordinary stories behind each species.
This isn’t a passive video library. It’s eight evenings of live, interactive teaching alongside the EcoTraining Online community — with full recordings to revisit any time.
What You’ll Learn
- Confidently identify southern Africa’s eagles, owls, vultures, falcons, harriers, kites, buzzards and accipiters
- The biology, behaviour and ecology that make raptors true apex predators
- The vulture conservation crisis — what’s driving it and what’s being done
- Field marks, flight silhouettes and call notes that separate look-alike species
- Where, when and how to find raptors on your next trip into the bush
Course Schedule
Starts Tuesday 25 August 2026 · 18h00 SAST · Live on Zoom
Every Tuesday & Thursday for 4 weeks · 8 lessons · 50 slides each
| # | Date | Lesson |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue 25 Aug | Welcome to the Skies — A World of Raptors |
| 2 | Thu 27 Aug | Silent Hunters of the Night — Owls |
| 3 | Tue 1 Sep | Nature’s Cleanup Crew — Vultures in Crisis |
| 4 | Thu 3 Sep | Low and Lethal — Harriers of the Wetlands |
| 5 | Tue 8 Sep | Riders of the Wind — Kites & Buzzards |
| 6 | Thu 10 Sep | Speed in the Skies — Falcons, Hobbies & Kestrels |
| 7 | Tue 15 Sep | Forest Phantoms — The Accipiters |
| 8 | Thu 17 Sep | Kings of the Sky — Eagles of Southern Africa |
Who This Is For
- Aspiring and qualified field guides deepening their bird-of-prey knowledge
- Birders ready to upgrade from “I know what an eagle is” to confident raptor ID
- Conservation-minded landowners, farmers and game reserve teams
- Travellers, lodge staff, and anyone who’s looked up and wondered, “What was that?”
- Educators, students and lifelong learners fascinated by southern Africa’s natural world
Your Instructor — Martin Taylor
Martin is a FGASA-accredited Specialist Bird Guide with over 20 years of birding and conservation experience across 15 African countries. He was lead editor of the 2015 Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, author of the 2018 State of South Africa’s Bird Report, and former SADC coordinator for the East Atlantic Flyway Initiative. He owns The African Birdwatching Company, designing bespoke bird and wildlife journeys across southern and East Africa.
When Martin teaches raptors, you’re learning from the same expert governments and conservation bodies turn to.
What’s Included
- 8 × live online lessons via Zoom (Tuesdays & Thursdays · 18h00 SAST)
- Interactive live Q&A with Martin in every session
- Full session recordings — yours to keep and rewatch
- Downloadable slide decks (400+ slides across the course)
- EcoTraining Certificate of Completion
- Access to the EcoTraining Online learner community
Why EcoTraining
Since 1993, EcoTraining has trained more field guides than any other school on the African continent. “Eyes Above the Bush” brings that same depth of expertise straight into your living room — without the airfare, time off work, or distance to the bush.
Reserve Your Place
Live spaces are limited to keep the experience interactive. Once they’re gone, they’re gone — and the next cohort won’t run until 2027.
Add to cart and we’ll see you on the wing.
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