Wilkinson's World

In flight the Southern pale chanting goshawk, when seen from below, appears to be white (it is in fact very pale grey) with black primary flight feathers.

The Southern pale chanting goshawk, near-endemic to the southern African region, prefers open semi-desert areas, where the bushes and thorn trees are fairly low. It is usually a somewhat quiet bird, but it has a melodious whistling chant “kleeu-kleeu-kleeu”  that has given it both its common name and its scientific name.

This little raptor eats mainly small mammals, lizards and insects, but will also take small birds or small reptiles. It may hunt from a perch, but is often seen on the ground and may run after its prey. Sometimes it will follow smaller mammals, like jackals, to feed on the insects and other suitable prey that is flushed by their passing.

The female Southern pale chanting goshawk might pair up with a single male, or two males and a female may form a polyandrous trio. They build a relatively small cup-shaped nest of sticks, usually well above the ground in an acacia tree, and the female lays a clutch of one or two pale blue or pale green eggs that hatch after an incubation period of about 35 days. It is common for only one youngster to be raised even if two eggs are laid.

The scientific binomial for the Southern pale chanting goshawk is Melierax canorus; Melierax from the Greek for a “melodious hawk”; and canorus from the Latin meaning “to sing”. Someone was certainly impressed with this birds vocalizations!

A Red-billed teal lay dead amongst the vegetation in the murky water and was being eaten by a small group of turtles!

The sunbirds were forgotten for the moment as I stood and watched in amazement as the turtles gathered, sometimes as many as five appearing to feed at the same time, pushing at the teal so that it twisted and turned in the water, sometimes presenting as just a pile of feathers, at other times its full duck-shape being obvious. In the gloom of the dirty water the turtles could only be seen when they were near the surface and there could have been more nudging the teal from below.

I watched several of the turtles swim away from the teal, only either to return after a short interval or to be replaced by others. It wasn’t therefore possible to see just how many turtles were taking advantage of this bonanza, but the most that were clearly in view simultaneously, either at the teal itself or swimming nearby, was seven.

I watched the activity for some time before I went back to trying to photograph the uncooperative Dusky sunbirds, but returned to the same spot the following morning to find no trace whatsoever of either the teal or the turtles. The teal could have been out of sight deep beneath the surface of the water, but there wasn’t so much as a feather to be seen.

I should imagine that the turtles were not instrumental in the death of the teal, as, although omnivorous turtles are known to feed on carrion, duck eggs, and even to take young ducklings, this had looked like an adult teal. I did, however come across this rather amazing video clip on You Tube of a turtle taking a pigeon, so who knows what is possible?

Take a look …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhGZ5XUW27E&feature=player_embedded

 

The bill of the Greater flamingo is a distinctive shape, curving downwards, and is pink with a black tip. In flight their long necks are stretched out in front and their long legs trail behind, once again rendering them very distinctive. Young birds lack the pink or red of their elders and are a rather dull grey and white.

Greater flamingoes have a very extensive range, being found in Africa, Asia and parts of southern Europe. Their preferred habitat is shallow coastal lagoons and mudflats, where they use their feet to stir up the mud. They suck water into their bills, using their tongues as a pump, and have filters to retain the shrimps, worms, algae and other tiny organisms on which they feed. They feed with their heads submerged and upside down and sweep their heads from side to side, presenting a very odd picture.

They are very sociable birds and, where feeding conditions are suitable, may be found in very large groups of up to hundreds or even thousands of birds. They often stand on one leg, with the other well tucked up against the body, but the reason for this is not clearly understood. They have a loud honking call, not unlike that of a goose, but may also call much more softly when they are feeding.

Greater flamingoes are monogamous and their nest is a simple mound of mud scraped together in shallow water. The females lay a single chalky-white egg that hatches after an incubation period of about 30 days.

The scientific binomial for the Greater flamingo is Phoenicopterus ruber; Phoenicopterus from the Greek for “bright red wings”; and ruber from the Latin for “red”. Thus a bird with bright red wings. With a bird as exotically shaped as a flamingo (used as a live croquet stick in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland”),  you would think they could have done better than that!

They are medium sized birds, with a length of about 24 cm and derive their name from the plumage on their head and breast, which is brownish-grey with white tips to the feathers that give the characteristic “arrow-marked” effect. The back and tail are a darker brown and the belly lighter. The bill, legs and feet are black and the eyes are two-toned, having a red outer rim and a yellow centre. The males and females are alike in both size and plumage.

Arrow-marked babblers are common throughout large parts of Africa, but within the southern African region they are largely limited to the north-east, their preferred habitat being semi arid woodland and moist shrublands.

They are quite social birds and are usually found in small groups of four to twelve birds. They forage low down in the undergrowth or on the ground and feed mainly on insects, spiders and small reptiles; also taking some fruit and seeds.

Arrow-marked babblers are monogamous and co-operative breeders, building an untidy cup-shaped nest of twigs and dry grass lined with finer material. This is usually placed in thick vegetation well above the ground. The female lays a clutch of three to five blue eggs that hatch after an incubation period of approximately 15 days. The nest may be parasitized by the Levaillant’s cuckoo (Clamator levaillantii).

The scientific binomial for the Arrow-marked babbler is Turdoides jardineii; Turdoides from the Latin for “like a thrush”; and jardineii after the naturalist Sir William Jardine. Not a very descriptive name without a mention of the distinctive plumage or the two-tone eyes!

Initially it takes a few days for the club to get noticed, but once the word spreads we are inundated with guests.  We often find them waiting even before we have opened our doors in the morning.  They get quite impatient too – if we are late delivering they set up a dawn chorus of chirps to remind us that they’re hungry.  It’s gratifying to see how popular our unofficial restaurant has become.

We get to know the little quirks and eccentricities of some of the regulars and that’s what makes a club like this so interesting.  It really broadens one’s knowledge of temperaments and dominant characters and personalities.  And when we move house we get to meet new and different friends and our next club is soon established and vibrant.

Here in Windhoek we have a wonderful pageant of birdies who visit us every morning.  Apart from the usual house sparrows and canaries, we get to see a number of very colourful birds.  And of course their plumage often changes with the seasons, so we also see them tranforming from their drab winter outfits and developing fine breeding feathers, then strutting their stuff in front of the ladies as they get more beautiful.

Because of the regular supply of seeds and bread, a number of southern masked weavers have built nests in the trees next to our fence.  We’ve been able to watch them rearing their babies and launching them into the world (sometimes with disastrous results!)  If we could offer crawling and flying insects as well we would have a much wider variety of birds to welcome to our space, but unfortunately that is a little more difficult than buying a packet of seeds or a loaf of bread from the local supermarket!

Some of the birds we’ve fed here include :

Bulbuls, blue waxbills, red-headed finches, southern masked weavers, red-billed queleas, rosy-faced lovebirds, southern red bishops, long-tailed paradise whydahs, chestnut weavers, acacia pied barbets, shaft-tailed whydahs, laughing doves, speckled pigeons, pale-winged starlings, great sparrows, canaries, white-browed sparrow weavers.  (I’m sure there are a few that have slipped my mind!)

It’s delightful to start the day off watching these beautiful little creatures getting stuck in to their breakfast.  Kind of sets a peaceful tone for the rest of the day.  An added bonus is that we can photograph them too.