Guttera edouardi
As familiar as South Africans are with the Helmeted Guineafowl, it may be surprising that relatively few people know that our country is home to another, slightly smaller, species of guineafowl, the Crested Guineafowl.
The Crested Guineafowl is an inconspicuous species that inhabits forests and dense riverine woodlands and occurs in pairs or small flocks, feeding on fruits, berries, seeds and invertebrates. They often follow feeding monkeys, pecking up any food items the primates drop from the tree tops. Breeding takes place in spring and summer, when hens lay small clutches (4-5 eggs) in scraped hollows hidden among thick vegetation.
The IUCN considers the Southern Crested Guineafowl as being of “Least Concern“, being found in large, stable populations over a wide area that includes Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In South Africa they are in no immediate danger of extinction, although they have a very limited distribution, occurring only in the north of Kwazulu-Natal and the north-eastern corner of Limpopo Province. Good places to go searching for them would be Cape Vidal and uMkhuze in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the areas around Pafuri and Punda Maria in the Kruger National Park.
Crested Guineafowl – iSimangaliso Wetland Park
DeWetsWild 
Yeh, that curly bouffant hairstyle is so much more ‘in’ than the Helmeted variety 🙂
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And then they hide it away in the forest instead of showing it off!
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Hier is ook baie van hulle hier by ons!
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Julle is regtig geseend met soveel natuurlewe om julle!
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Now THAT’S a bird!
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Funky, isn’t it?
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Unique looking bird. Thanks for sharing this! 🙂
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It is our great pleasure!
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Funny, unless I mistook them for the helmeted variety, I cannot recall ever having seen them.
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There’s apparently a small, isolated population in the Karkloof you might stumble upon.
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I will look out for them!
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Pragtig soos gewoonlik
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Baie dankie Tina!
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Jinne – hul is pragtig!!
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Inderdaad Spokie, maar ai, mens kry maar nogsteeds die idee dat hulle nie baie slim is nie…
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Hulle is darem te pragtig met hul kuifkoppies!
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Regte hippies!
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Eintlik punks😂
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The hair style is what makes them!!pretty neat! and I bet their spotted feathers would be good for fly tying! Not that I’d do that! 🙂 T.
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Absolutely Teresa! Guineafowl feathers are actually used for a variety of decorative purposes, and combined with porcupine quills, proteas and so forth make for an exquisite African bouquet.
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If I could get out more, I’d be taking more pictures of our types of birds(the ones that live in the bushes), but I’m limited….so your stuck with clouds and mountains! lol…T.
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You’ll never hear me complain about clouds and mountains!
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Love the feathers! Almost makes them look 3D 😉 I’m sure it helps when it’s time to hide.
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Their feathers definitely make for very good camouflage in the dark of the forests they occur in, Ilex.
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What a cool looking bird. I especially like the top shot.
janet
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Thanks very much Janet! I am glad we at least got one close-up photo!
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Designer feathers!
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Some people would pay a pretty penny for this hair-do
😀
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I love all the dots–such a pretty one.
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And that hairstyle! 😀
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