Wilkinson's World

As we got closer we saw that this activity was generated by a male Pin-tailed whydah conducting an energetic courtship routine for the benefit of a rather disinterested-looking female perched on a branch, about four metres above the ground. They both flew off as we approached, but we positioned ourselves nearby, trying to look unobtrusive, in the hope that the pair would return and pick up where they left off. Trying to look unobtrusive was quite difficult in the absence of any cover!

In the event, the male Pin-tailed whydah and his harem had other things on their little minds and they virtually ignored our presence! The male, glorious in his pied plumage and with a tail that trebled the length of his body, buzzed after the nondescriptly brown females as if they were the most gorgeous creatures on earth. These females, for their part, very often displayed no interest whatsoever in his impressive display, and seemed to be far more enthusiastic about the seeds that they found in the grass below the trees.

Some of females were simply teasing, though, and one-by-one they flew up into the tree and perched quietly while the hormone-driven male hovered in front of them, bobbing vertically and weaving from side to side, his impressive tail waving below. It was a wonderful display to watch and we were totally enthralled. The amount of energy displayed by the little bird was amazing. Just supporting that tail up as he hovered, holding his body vertical, must have been an effort. Still teasing, some of the females would drop to the ground and the seed, seemingly unimpressed by the display.

But then one of the females decided that she was ready! She remained on her perch as the male completed his display and maneuvered himself behind her. The courtship was a drawn out affair; the mating was competed in seconds. The event looked quite violent as the male all but smothered the female, his wings hardly missing a beat as he tried to maintain his balance and position above and behind her. His enthusiasm exceeded his aptitude though and the performance was concluded when he managed to knock the little female right off her perch. Just as well birds can fly.

Each male Pin-tail has a little harem, though, and for him it was only Act One of the performance that was over. A short rest and he was flitting about looking for another female to woo. You have to stand in awe of his stamina!

We never did get any decent photos of the waterbirds.

Read more about this bird on my previous blog :    <Bird of the week :  Pin-tailed Whydah

The Pin-tailed whydah is a fairly small bird, with a length of approximately 13 cm. During the breeding season the males and females are very different in plumage, and the breeding male grows a tail that adds 20cm or so to his length. During this time the male has a black crown and back and the long tail is also black. The wings are black with white patches and the under parts, including the throat, are white. The eyes are dark brown; legs and feet are dark grey and the bill is bright red. The females and non-breeding males are similar, rather nondescript with streaked brown upperparts and white to buff under parts.

The call of the Pin-tailed whydah is a high-pitched, sustained series of “swirt swee swirt” and similar sounds. They feed mainly on grass seeds and grain, for which they forage on the ground, and also on termites.

Pin-tailed whydahs are both polygynous and promiscuous. The males are aggressively territorial, and each make has a small group of females in his territory, but these females will also mate with other males who may venture into the territory while the main man is otherwise engaged. The males mating display involves a great deal of hovering in front of the female in order to display his tail, and only about one in ten of these displays will result in mating.

They are brood parasites, and do not build a nest of their own. They parasitize mainly Common waxbills (Estrilda astrild), and the female whydah may destroy one of the waxbill’s eggs before laying one or two of her own. The eggs hatch after an incubation period of about eleven days and the gape of the newborn whydah will be similar to that of the host bird.

The scientific binomial for the Pin-tailed whydah is Vidua macroura; Vidua from the Latin for a widow, referring to the black plumage and the long black tail; and macroura from the Greek for a large tail. Thus the name describes a widow with a large tail, which does nothing to capture the essence of this beautiful little bird!

I managed to get some excellent photographs of Whydahs courting.   Read :  Courtship Routine of Hormone Driven Pin-tailed Whydahs

During a visit to the Etosha National Park this last weekend, we were visited by a jackal whilst having a barbeque outside our chalet.  Visitors to the park are urged not to feed these scavengers as it encourages their presence in the camp, but I suspect that foreigners who don’t see them too often must get quite a thrill being so close to a wild animal out in the open.  We had to chase this fellow away before he stole our meat.  On a previous visit to the same park we actually saw a jackal steal meat off a barbeque.

On a trip to the Central Kalahari in Botswana we came across a lion kill (see our post The Lions of Passarge Valley) and there were no less than six jackals waiting in the wings for a go at the carcass.  The lioness in charge of guarding the carcass was not interested in sharing her spoils with them and dragged it under a bush where she kept a beady eye on the hungry Black-backed jackals.  This lucky fellow managed to scrounge a tasty morsel for himself.

It is also exciting to see them on the bleak desert landscape of the Skeleton Coast.  Even though the area looks barren and arid, the jackals have no reason to starve with the Cape Cross seal colony spread out before them like a buffet in the desert.  They also eat fish and mussels washed up onto the beach.

Black-backed jackals have reddish-brown bodies with a black ‘saddle’ over their backs.  They like to move at a fast pace, almost a trot.  They usually hunt alone, but live in pairs and are territorial.  Their diet consists of small mammals, birds, insects and carrion.  Mating takes place from May onwards, with young being born between July and October.  Litters consist of between one and six pups that are born after a gestation period of about two months.

It’s exciting to lie in your tent at night and listen to the eerie sound of Black-backed jackals calling to each other.

The Orange River white-eye is endemic to the southern African region and is found, not surprisingly, along the Orange River, but also northwards into Namibia, where they are not uncommon along the Swakop and Kuiseb Rivers, and southwards into South Africa. It is very similar to the Cape white-eye in appearance and some hybridization occurs where the ranges of the two overlap.

The Orange River white-eye is a small bird with a length of just 12 cm. The sexes are alike, with greenish crown and upperparts; yellow throat; peach coloured or buff flanks and yellow vent. It has a very distinct white ring around its black eyes, a black bill and black legs and feet.

Its preferred habitat is quite dense riverine woodland, but it is also found in other wooded areas, including parks. It feeds mainly on insects which it gleans from leaves or prises from under the bark as it moves quickly through the foliage, and on fruit and berries.

The call of the Orange River white-eye is a subdued “pee, tee, pee, tee”. They are monogamous and build a cup-shaped nest, usually placed in a tree or a tall bush. The female lays a clutch of about three pale blue eggs, and the incubation period is presently not known.

The scientific binomial for the Orange River white-eye is Zosterops pallidus; Zosterops from the Greek words for “girdle” and “eye”, referring to the distinctive white ring around the eye; and pallidus from the Latin for “pale”. Thus the name describes a pale bird with a girdled eye.

We had rather an amusing encounter with a Water monitor on a trip to Namushasha in Namibia when a helpful local guide took us to see Carmine Bee-eaters breeding in a nearby river bank.  He told us that Water monitors love to raid these deep breeding holes for eggs and we would be likely to see one.  Sure enough, as our boat glided slowly past we saw the head of a Water monitor sticking out of a hole in the river bank, but on seeing us he retreated into his dark burrow.

We pulled up gently to the bank and with two cameras poised, we waited while the guide prodded into the hole with a long stick.  The Water monitor shot out at such a speed that when the guide asked us if we had caught him on camera we had to laugh.  Both cameras showed a blurred tail tip in each frame – neither of us had been as fast as the monitor!

Water monitors are powerful swimmers and use their strong legs and tail to propel themselves through the water.  They are capable of remaining underwater for long periods of time and their favourite food is fish and crocodile eggs, although as I said earlier, they will also eat birds eggs if available.  Like the Rock Monitors they also eat snakes, rodents and other small animals.  They have powerful claws on their legs which assist them in climbing trees and digging for food or making burrows for their own eggs.  They also burrow into live termite nests to lay their eggs.  The termiites then reseal the damaged mound, which makes an ideal place for the Water monitor’s eggs to incubate and also provides some snakcs in the form of termites for the baby monitors when they hatch.  Water monitors lay up to sixty eggs.

These reptiles are often sold as pets, but they are quite ferocious and are something of a nuisance in our environment.  If cornered they can be dangerous as they defend themselves and their young most vigorously.  They are known to kill and eat household pets like cats and small dogs and make a huge mess when they raid refuse bins.  Many myths abound about them and they feature in African folklore and stories, especially about their tail slaps and danger to humans.