After leaving Kruger we headed back to Pretoria which is close to Johannesburg and the airport, but we wanted to check out the famous Botanical Gardens and the birds that could be seen there. We did stop at one private reserve on the way, the name of which I have forgotten as it was not very productive, but the Botanical Gardens were spectacular. Here's a shot of Stephen modelling what the well equipped birder is wearing this year. Nice eh?
The Sacred Ibis was given its name by the ancient Egyptians who revered the bird as a symbol of one of their gods. The Ibis were said to kill mythical winged serpents & prevent them from entering Egypt. Unfortunately they no longer inhabit Egypt, they breed in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Iraq. I guess the winged serpents must be getting in then?
This is a Yellow-Billed Duck. It's a duck with a yellow bill. Not much more to add really, it's quite a nice looking dabbler which is threatened by hybridisation with the common Mallard, but it is still quite abundant in Southern and Eastern Africa.
Yellow-billed Duck - anas undulata
This little brown job is a Tawny-flanked Prinia. Quite common in sub-Saharan Africa it is related to the cisticolas.
Tawny-flanked Prinia - prinia subflava
Can't help liking this shot of a Lesser Grey Shrike showing off its pink tinted breast.
Lesser Grey Shrike - lanius minor
...and here's a new one, a Red-faced Mousebird, captured in a tree bearing some very vicious looking thorns. Later we would watch small flocks of these flying directly from tree to tree in earch of fruits and berries. A very attractive sight with those red striped faces and very long tails weaving their way through the branches of fruiting trees.
This one is a White-crowned Lapwing, otherwise known as the White-crowned or White-headed Plover. It is a striking looking wader with a very distinctive yellow wattle below a bright white forehead. The yellow wattle matches the leg coloration nicely and in flight the black and white tail and wings contrast well with the rest of the soft grey-brown plumage.
White-crowned Lapwing - vanellus albiceps
The next one has a similar name but is another species of lapwing, it is the Crowned Lapwing. Not easily mistaken for its White-crowned cousin as it has red legs and bill, white underparts and quite different head markings. It is the most numerous of sub-Saharan Lapwings.
Crowned Lapwing - vanellus coronatus
This very large antelope is a Kudu. I could write some biological or scientific facts about Kudus but frankly the most interesting thing I know about them is that some Afrikaaners enjoy the sport of "Kudu Dung Spitting" (yes you did read that correctly). They hold an annual Kudu Dung Spitting Championships and I can reliably inform you that an individual called Shaun van Rensburg spat Kudu shit a World record distance of 15.56 meters in 2006. I am not shitting you.
The next two images are a couple of Boubous. No, not mistakes, that is what they are called. The first one is a Southern Boubou and the second is a Tropical Boubou. They are actually Bushshrikes buy have been named Boubous after their call which can sound like the word.
Southern Boubou - laniarius ferrugineus
Boubous are renowned for their passion for singing duets. No I am not kidding. I am going to quote a passage from Wikipedia about the Tropical Boubou. I am not given to quotes, particularly long-winded ones, but this just cracked me up.
Like many bush-shrikes, they have a wide vocal repertoire that includes duets in which two individuals give notes alternately in so rapid a sequence that they sound like one bird. Males probably start most duets, and their notes are mostly low-pitched whistles and/or harsh croaks; females' notes are typically higher whistles and/or "harsh tearing or rattling sounds". But although the birds' vocalizations are somewhat harsh, they are still able to create a wide range of frequencies and males provide the higher voice in certain duets.
Duets usually consist of one exchange, two or three calls in total. But up to seven exchanges have been recorded. A duet may be repeated up to 75 times, and in experiments where the birds were confronted with taped vocalizations, they could be enticed to up to 200 duets. A dozen or more duet types exist, and some seem to confer specific information, forming a Morse-code-like sort of language. Examples of typical duet sequences include hoooooo-ho-ho, hoho-u-ho, hoo-hii-hoo, haw-Weeer-haw, hoou-Weer-hoou, houhou-Weeer and bobobobo-Weeer. LOL, side splitting stuff!
The article goes into much more detail about duet calls and responses and I didn't completely understand everything but I think I get the gist of it, which is that these blighters like singing duets, or even trios, and these duets and trios all have different meanings, it's like singing in morse code. Cool eh?
Like many bush-shrikes, they have a wide vocal repertoire that includes duets in which two individuals give notes alternately in so rapid a sequence that they sound like one bird. Males probably start most duets, and their notes are mostly low-pitched whistles and/or harsh croaks; females' notes are typically higher whistles and/or "harsh tearing or rattling sounds". But although the birds' vocalizations are somewhat harsh, they are still able to create a wide range of frequencies and males provide the higher voice in certain duets.
Duets usually consist of one exchange, two or three calls in total. But up to seven exchanges have been recorded. A duet may be repeated up to 75 times, and in experiments where the birds were confronted with taped vocalizations, they could be enticed to up to 200 duets. A dozen or more duet types exist, and some seem to confer specific information, forming a Morse-code-like sort of language. Examples of typical duet sequences include hoooooo-ho-ho, hoho-u-ho, hoo-hii-hoo, haw-Weeer-haw, hoou-Weer-hoou, houhou-Weeer and bobobobo-Weeer. LOL, side splitting stuff!
The article goes into much more detail about duet calls and responses and I didn't completely understand everything but I think I get the gist of it, which is that these blighters like singing duets, or even trios, and these duets and trios all have different meanings, it's like singing in morse code. Cool eh?
Tropical Boubou - laniarius major
The Hadada Ibis is a fairly common African species. It's another example of a bird being named after its call. It is welcomed on golf courses and bowling greens as it probes for and eats the larvae of moths and beetles that feed on the grass roots. It is thought the bird can hear them chewing below the surface.
Hadada Ibis - bostrychia hagedash
The Southern Masked Weaver has red eyes which avoids confusion with all other Weavers except the slightly larger Village Weaver which has a darker, more mottled back and a longer dagger-like bill.
Southern Masked Weaver - ploceus velatus
Here are a couple of Cormorants. The White-breasted Cormorant is the subject of debate amongst ornithologists, but it is generally accepted now as a separate species from the Great Cormorant (P. Carbo) that is common in Europe and across most of the World.
White-breasted Cormorant - phalacrocorax lucidus
No question that the Reed Cormorant is a separate species. Much smaller than the common Great Cormorant and only found in Sub Saharan Africa & Madagascar.
Reed Cormorant - microcarbo africanus
Next is another photo of a Black-collared Barbet. Not the first shot of this species, which we saw quite often, but this one is interesting because of the large insect prey in its bill.
Black-collared Barbet - lybius torquatus
Southern Bishop - eucleptes orix
These are both members of the Weaver family, the Southern Bishop above is another bird I have posted previously, but this is a rather good shot of a handsome red male on a reed in one of the ponds of the Botanical gardens. The next is one I have not posted before. The distinctive Thick-billed Weaver builds very neat, dome shaped nests on reed stems in the Garden ponds here. It is also known as the Grossbeak Weaver for obvious reasons.
Thick-billed Weaver - amblyospiza albifrons
The Bronze Manikin is a very small member of the Munia family that is locally abundant in areas of grassland in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a considerable pest to seed and grain farmers just like the even more abundant Red-billed Quelea. Efforts to control their numbers are generally unsuccessful.
Bronze Mannikin - lonchura cucullata
Bronze Mannikin - lonchura cucullata
The African Paradise Flycatcher is a very attractive bird. The female and young birds lack the very long tail of the adult males but they are still very striking in appearance with an interesting hairstyle. They are largely insectivorous and dart out from their perch to capture passing insects, just like shrikes. This rufous morph female was in a stand of large trees in the Botanical Gardens.
African Paradise Flycatcher - terpsiphone viridis
African Paradise Flycatcher - terpsiphone viridis
Cut-throat Finch - amadina fasciata
Our first thought when we spotted this interesting bird was "Wryneck", because of that scaly appearance, however on closer examination we could see that this clearly was not a wryneck, the field guide showed us it is a female Cut-throat Finch. The male of this species has a bright red band across the throat, hence the name.
Cut-throat Finch - amadina fasciata
The Cape Wagtail below is a rather mundane species and in fact I continue this South Africa blog with some common birds that are not particularly eye-catching but which are separate species. The blog would not be complete without recording all the species that I managed to photograph.
Cape Wagtail - motacilla capensis
Cape Sparrow - passer melanurus
White-browed Robin Chat - cossypha heuglini
Kurrichane Thrush - turdus libonyana
The African Hoopoe is of course a very close relative of our Eurasian Hoopoe (upapa epops) but scientists now agree that upapa africana is a separate species. I must say that those I saw here were not as handsome or as beautiful as ours in Spain. Could just be the condition of the birds we came across but they all looked a bit scrawny and less colouful to me.
African Hoopoe - upapa africana
White-browed Sparrow-weaver - plocepasser mahali
I was quite surprised to see a group of Spotted Thicknees in the Botanical Gardens. Thicknees are close relatives of our Stone Curlew which you wouldn't expect to see in a public park, they are very shy indeed. Perhaps the Spotted Thicknees think we can't see them because their camouflage is so effective? However those big yellow eyes are a dead give-away.
Spotted Thicknee - burhinus capensis
Fiscal Flycatcher - melaenornis silens
Helmeted guineafowl - numida meleagris
I finish off the blog with a couple of the more interesting birds of the Gardens. The Helmeted Guineafowl is a wild bird that has virtually domesticated itself. It can be seen in suburbs of cities such as Cape Town where flocks roam the quieter streets and roost on the roofs of bungalows. They can walk more than 10 kms in a day and are strong runners. The flock can fend off cats and smaller dogs and they will eat virtually anything organic. Guineafowl sold as meat in supermarkets are usually this species.
African Paradise Flycatcher - terpsiphone viridis
Finally another look at the handsome Paradise Flycatcher, showing off its nice blue bill and orbital rings and the prominent white wingbars, which indicate that this one is an adult female.
Our trip to South Africa, and specifically to Kruger National Park had been amazing. The importance of protected areas such as the Park cannot be over-stated. As the human population continues to increase exponentially leaving very little room or natural habitat on this planet for other species, a few protected environments will be the only hope for the biodiversity that is otherwise being destroyed by the remorseless spread of homo-sapiens.
Our trip to South Africa, and specifically to Kruger National Park had been amazing. The importance of protected areas such as the Park cannot be over-stated. As the human population continues to increase exponentially leaving very little room or natural habitat on this planet for other species, a few protected environments will be the only hope for the biodiversity that is otherwise being destroyed by the remorseless spread of homo-sapiens.
