Slaty egret’s shifting nesting sites offer clues to changing ecosystems

Scientists studying a rare African waterbird in Botswana’s Okavango Delta have found that previously established nesting sites are no longer being used, while new breeding locations have been identified, offering clues to how environmental changes may be affecting one of Africa’s most important wetland ecosystems.

The August 2026 expedition to photograph the near-endemic Slaty Egret in Botswana's Okavango Delta saw the team travel to the far western Okavango Delta, then fly into Jao Camp landing strip in a helicopter, where guide Jay (Joseph) Haikera and photographer and conservationist Jeffrey Barbee attempted to find one of two of four breeding colonies of Slaty Egret.

The slaty egret’s distribution could therefore provide useful evidence of environmental changes across the Delta, although researchers need further data to establish how closely particular changes in the bird’s breeding patterns correspond with changes in the wider ecosystem.