Feeling broody?

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This month’s letters are all about our feathered friends. The experts answer your bird-related questions. Write to

QTINA VISSER writes: I took this photo on a weekend breakaway in the Stanger area. This is an African hoopoe feeding a greater honeyguide. Is this common behaviour?

ABird expert JOHAN VAN ROOYEN says: Honeyguides are brood parasites and lay their eggs in a variety of host nests. According to Roberts VII, greater honeyguides prefer hosts that nest in holes in the ground or in trees, like hoopoes, wood-hoopoes, kingfishers, woodpeckers and bee-eaters. If the hoopoe hatches the egg, it considers the chick its own and rears it.