Wilkinson's World

The South African shelduck is endemic to the southern African region and their preferred habitat is inland dams and rivers, especially in the more arid areas in the south and east of the region. Their distribution and range may be influenced through their preference for nesting in the abandoned holes made by aardvarks or other mammals.

The first part of the English name “shelduck”, “sheld” means “pied”, and elsewhere in the world members of the same family are called sheldrakes or, in the case of larger species, sheldgeese.

When they are in the water, South African shelducks feed on algae and crustaceans and when on land they feed mainly on grain such as maize and wheat.

South African shelducks often call in duet, particularly when in flight, with the male calling a loud “honk” and the female responding “hunk”.

South African shelducks are monogamous and build a nest in an abandoned burrow in the ground, usually that of an aardvark, although burrows of springhares and porcupines may also be used. These burrows provide a cool nesting area in the otherwise hot environment often favoured by the shelducks. The female lays a clutch of between six and ten eggs which hatch after an incubation period of approximately 30 days.

The scientific binomial for the South African shelduck is Tadorna cana; Tadorna from the French for “a shelduck”, and cana from the Latin for ”grey”, referring to the head of the drake. Thus the name describes a shelduck with a grey head. Can’t say clearer than that.

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

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.

Cape crows are found in a variety of habitats, but prefer grassland and semi-arid areas. They are often found in farmlands and plantations. They are omnivorous and feed on a wide variety of items including spiders, lizards, insects, frogs, the eggs of tortoises and ground-nesting birds, and carrion from road-kill, as well as grain and other seeds and fruit.

The number and range of the various species of crows in southern Africa is slowly expanding as they are quite tolerant of humans and seem almost unaffected by the changing landscape. This may pose a threat to some of the local raptor species as they compete for much the same food sources.

The Cape crow’s  loud “kraa, kraa” is distinctive cry, as is their liquid warbling and the variety of gurgling sounds that carry surprisingly far. They also have a talent for mimicry and many years ago the Queen’s Park Zoo in East London (in the eastern Cape of South Africa) was home to a Cape crow widely known as “Jimmy the Crow” and locally famous for its ability to talk. Its large vocabulary included a loudly shouted “Border!” in support of the local provincial rugby team! As children we visited Jimmy many times and have fond memories of his raucous call.

The Cape crow is monogamous and they build a large bowl-shaped nest of sticks placed high in a tree or on a telephone pole. The female lays a clutch of three or four eggs that hatch after an incubation period of approximately 18 days. The nest may be parasitized by the Great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius),

The scientific binomial for the Cape crow is Corvus capensis; Corvus from the Latin for “a raven or a crow”; and capensis from the Latin for “from the Cape (of Good Hope)”. Thus we have a crow from the Cape, and it couldn’t be clearer than that.