This is a post about birds.
The guests I have been hosting lately have had a heightened interest in them, making Rob Hlatswayo (the tracker I work with) and me very happy! I am constantly reminded about how exciting, dynamic and interesting bird life is.
Here’s an example; this morning I watched an African Harrier-Hawk (a fairly large bird of prey) navigate a dead Leadwood tree to find the hatchlings of a hornbill. He/she (the harrier-hawk) picked away the mud that covered the hole of the hornbill nest with its beak then stuck its featherless legs right up into the nest and grabbed a chick! Throughout this scene, the harrier-hawk was getting mobbed by a flock of starlings and the parent pair of hornbills. The successful raptor clasped the chick in its talons and flew off, leaving only a feather dancing around in the breeze behind it.
This is just one of the incredible behaviours and sightings happening each day in the bush.
This is an appreciation post about birds and their incredible lives they lead, most of which goes unseen by us…
A pearl-spotted owlet takes a little bee-eater. The owlet is only about 20cm tall and 100g in weight, yet we find it preying on impressively large animals for its size. A fellow-guide once told me that he saw an owlet with a hornbill in its talons, and another guide saw one take a grey go-away-bird. These birds are twice the owlet’s size! Owls are impressive hunters, to say the least.
A male village weaver hangs onto the bottom of its nest, displaying. The male will weave the nest – which takes him about 12 hours – and then display his striking plumage to attract a female. However, if the female weaver does not approve of the nest, he will have to tear it down and rebuild it. Each male will build between three and five nests.
Yellow-billed oxpeckers have a striking yellow bill, as you can see. These beautiful birds are rarer than red-billed oxpeckers. Most of the times I have seen the yellow-billed variety they have been on the backs of buffalo but they can also be found on kudu, giraffe, rhinos, zebra and hippo. They feed on ticks and other ectoparasites on the bodies of these large mammals. They also eat/drink blood from open wounds on the animals.
A mighty lappet-faced vulture decides on where best to pull meat from a male impala carcass. We believe the impala died naturally. There were seventy vultures at this carcass before the lappet-faced vulture arrived. The carcass was almost finished. The significantly bigger lappet-faced landed and all the other vultures stepped aside for this powerful bird to feed. They are like the lions of the vulture world; the top of the hierarchy. They weigh almost 7kg, they’re a meter tall and have a wingspan of 2.8m!
Hamerkop, meaning ‘hammer head’ in the Afrikaans language, describes the clear head shape of this bird. Most of this bird’s diet is made of up frogs but they will also eat fish and insects. This species make a huge nest about two meters in length and width!
A male coqui francolin calls from a perch on a termite mound. This call is to advertise territory. He was really giving it all he had, calling with such determination. These francolin are one of the herder-to-see francolins in this area. In this photo the male’s nictitating membrane covering his eye, giving it a cloudy blue appearance.
A green-backed heron waits patiently for fish to jump upwards toward it. The crafty, agile and patient green-backed heron hunts waterways and can move in thick riverine areas to find food. They are very patient and will strike out with incredible speed, elongating their necks like a coiled spring.
Birds, birds, birds! If you let them, these wonderful creatures will add so much value to your safari. Open your eyes to the incredible birdlife around you and make sure that you do more than just tick off the species on your list. Watch what they are doing because their behaviour is fascinating.
I probably take more photos of birds than of animals. Birds are everywhere. In the garden. In the camp. Your photo of the pearl spotted owlet with the bee eater is incredible Bruce.
Thanks you Marinda, glad to know a fellow bird lover 😉
While we adored the charismatic megafauna, the only photo we turned into a poster-sized enlargement was a Bee Eater (thanks Peter for pointing him out!).
Bruce, I am a birder, but the people I am with don’t like birds🤗
So I trudge on alone, not seeing any birds, Lilac Breasted Roller is my favorite bird,
I like so many birds, even the vultures, hornbills. We saw a Night Heron when we were there in 2011!
Lovely photos and I didn’t think a small owl like the Pearl-spotted would take other birds, but then I suppose in nature, they’re opportunistic and when you’re hungry, you’re hungry!!
Please Mr Photographer, can we have some more birds??
I’ll let Mr photographer know that there’s more demand for birds!! Thanks Karen.
Great pics Bruce. Post some of them for the 2021 Ranger’s room refurb and you might win top spot two times in a row, based on my vote for you this year?
Haha, thank you Ian… If there’s another competition around I’ll be sure to throw one of these in. Thanks for the vote!!!
Wow Bruce! What really beautiful pictures. Just love all of them and intend to turn all of them into screensavers!
Wendy M
Fantastic Wendy I’m so glad you like the photos, which ones do you like the best i.e. The screen savers?
Wonderful photos, Bruce! I, too, had no idea that the owlet could take a bee eater!
Birds are always busy, which makes for interesting photography … and I enjoy the challenge as well. Beautiful shots!
Thank you Deborah!
Since traveling to South Africa a couple of decades ago, I’ve grown to appreciate watching birds of all types and have slowly began to photograph them – no easy task. Your Pearl spotted owl with its bee eater prey was an amazing photo!! Thank you for reminding us that the avians are an important part of any Safari.
Thank you Denise, I appreciate the comment! Glad to know that you’re an avid bird lover too!
Hello Bruce!
What a good and intresting article you have written! Birds are so beautiful, elegant and smart! I love them for their beauty and elegance! It is easy to get ”starstrucked”! Thank you for sharing the beautiful photos!
I have some questions, have you seen some bird that is very smart in it’s behaviour? Size and smartness? Is their some birds that is famous for being smart or the opposite not so clever…. Have you the impression and experience that a little bird can be smarter than a much bigger one? Looking forward to your answer!
Thank you for your wonderful comment! I’d say the first bird that comes to mind when I think of a smart little bird, it’s the fork tailed drongo. This little bird can mimic many calls, each with a specific function such as increasing its chances of feeding or protecting itself. They mimic the calls of mongooses, eagles 10 times their size, squirrels and many other animals… And their sounds are deceptively and surprisingly accurate and similar to the animals their mimicking.
I’d say that smaller birds have intelligent ways of protecting themselves, which they’ve had to derive because of their size. Larger birds may not have the same techniques and may not seem as smart. However, I don’t believe that the smaller birds are necessarily more intelligent than the bigger ones. I hope this helps! What do you think?
Thank you Bruce for your interesting and quick answer! I agree with you, the fort tailed drongo seems to be a very smart one and I think you are right when you say that smaller birds have intelligent ways of protecting themselves, as they had to derive it because of their size. To take an example from my experience. I live in a house with a garden beside a little forest. When I feed birds with nuts etc. I make a speciell sound to make them awere that food is coming, sometimes bigger birds is coming but very often small birds comes directly… I have the impression that they are alert and smart.
Sometimes when the bigger ones hear my sound they start ”talking” and I think givning their ”friends” information about now it’s food coming! It’s just my impression. It is lovely to see and study their behaviour! I think that birds gives so much happiness to the world… One could say that they are divine…
I’m impressed and starstrucked!
Wow, thank you Ann! I can see that you’re so passionate! Thank you for your story.
That was so interesting – thank you
I always forget that pearlies can take birds larger than themselves!!
Is the pic of the francolin, not a Natal Francolin and not a Coqui Francolin – just checking! Thanks for all the great posts.
Hi Patsy, it’s 100% a male Coqui Francolin…
Love this post! Thank you for the wonderful photos. Great insight and knowledge as always.
Good to hear from you Diana, thank you!
I love birds and Africa has some of the most beautiful. I learned a lot from your post, Bruce and all the images are remarkable. Bravo!
Thank you Joanne!
Hi Bruce. In answer to your question about my screensavers, well, I took the Weaver and its Nest Building, then the Yellow Billed Oxpecker, the Coqui Francolin, and the Green Backed Heron. I think the pic of the Pearl Spotted Owl and its prey, the little bee eater, is wonderful, but too sad to go round and round as a screensaver. I also wouldn’t have the Lappet Faced Vulture either for the same reason. We met Timothy Vulture (a Cape Vulture) years ago. What a character! He was being fed a special diet to help strengthen his bones but he would never be able to fly, very sadly. Loved shiny things and would come over, in a sort of rolling gallop, in the way Vultures do to inspect shiny buttons etc, including my toes, thank you very much! I had to hold my umbrella in front of my feet when he was around! I had painted the nails with pink nail polish you see! Obviously a bird of discernment! Loved Timothy. Cheers. Wendy M