Category Archives: South African Wildlife

The inhabitants of South Africa’s wild places

Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark

Eremopterix leucotis

The Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark is a nomadic bird that inhabits open savannas with short grass and bare patches (especially recently burnt). They feed mainly on seeds, though insects and other invertebrates also feature in their diet and especially so in the breeding season. Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Larks are social and is usually seen in flocks numbering from 5 to 50 and sometimes several hundred individuals. They drink regularly when water is available but also occur far from water.

Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Larks form monogamous pairs in the breeding season, which may be at anytime of year following good rainfall. They build the nest together, using a shallow depression next to a tuft of grass or rock in which to place the cup-shaped nest built with soft plant material. The clutch of 1-3 eggs are incubated by both parents and hatch in less than 2 weeks. The chicks leave the nest when they’re only 2 weeks old and before they’re fully capable of flying. Fully grown they weigh around 22g and measure 13cm in length.

Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Larks occur in northern South Africa (from the Free State and Kwazulu-Natal northwards) and patchily throughout Africa’s savanna regions. The IUCN considers the species to be of least concern.

Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark

Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark

Chestnut-backed Sparrowlarks

Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark

Incognito Thread Snake

28 Replies

Leptotyphlops incognitus

Joubert and I have just returned from a “Dads & Lads” weekend with good friends at the Kudu Private Nature Reserve outside Lydenburg in the Mpumalanga Province. While looking for crickets to use as fishing bait I came across this tiny Incognito Thread Snake underneath a rock.

The Incognito Thread Snake is a harmless and tiny reptile that lives almost exclusively underground, sometimes emerging on the surface during wet weather and then easily confused with an earthworm. They feed on invertebrates, especially termites.

Incognito Thread Snakes grow to about 15cm in length and are thinner than a matchstick. Females lay 3-4 rice-sized eggs that hatch in late summer.

In South Africa the Incognito Thread Snake occurs in Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Province, and beyond our borders as far as Zambia, Malawi and southern Mozambique. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern.

Marico Sunbird

14 Replies

Cinnyris mariquensis

The Marico (or Mariqua) Sunbird is a very active little bird that prefers open savannas dominated by thorn trees, though they’re ever more frequently being seen in parks and suburban gardens. Like other sunbirds their diet consists mainly of nectar and invertebrates.

Marico Sunbirds form monogamous pairs and breed from mid-winter through to late summer. It takes the female about a fortnight to build the pear-shaped nest using spider webs and plant material and then camouflaging it using anything from bark to droppings. She’s also the sole incubator of the clutch, with 1-3 eggs laid and hatched about 2 weeks later. The male only starts helping with the care of the chicks when they fledge, assisting with their feeding for several weeks after the youngsters take to the wing for the first time. Fully grown, Marico Sunbirds weigh around 11g and measure approximately 13cm in length.

In South Africa the Marico Sunbird is found in northern Kwazulu-Natal, most of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, northern Gauteng, the North West Province and much of the Kalahari regions of the Northern Cape. Beyond our borders they also occur patchily to as far north as Eritrea. According to the IUCN the Marico Sunbird is of least concern.

Marico Sunbird

Marico Sunbirds

Marico Sunbird

Grey-backed Cisticola

9 Replies

Cisticola subruficapilla

Grey-backed Cisticolas are found only in the southwest of South Africa (Eastern, Northern and Western Cape and southern Free State) and in Namibia. It inhabits the Fynbos and Karoo biomes, living on insects snatched from the ground or from leaves. They’re commonly encountered either singly, in pairs or small family groups.

Grey-backed Cisticolas form monogamous, territorial pairs and breed from mid-winter to summer. They build ball-shaped nests with a side-entrance, usually placed low in a shrub and often incorporating parts of it in the construction. Clutches of 2-5 eggs are incubated for about two weeks, with the chicks leaving the nest a similar length of time after hatching. Fully grown they weigh about 11g and measure around 12cm in length.

The IUCN assessed the Grey-backed Cisticola as being of least concern.

Grey-backed Cisticola

Large-billed Lark

13 Replies

Galerida magnirostris

A rather nondescript bird, perfectly camouflaged to blend in with the barren substrates they favour, the Large-billed Lark is a bird of the fynbos and Karoo biomes. They forage on the open ground, feeding on seeds and insects, and are particularly fond of ploughed fields and overgrazed pastures. They’re usually seen in pairs.

Large-billed Larks are territorial and form monogamous pairs that breed from mid-winter to mid-summer, building cup-shaped nests at the base of a grass tuft or low shrub in which both partners incubate clutches of 2-4 eggs for a little over 2 weeks. While the chicks are in the nest the parents are fearless about protecting them against predators and humans alike. Fully grown they weigh around 48g and measure about 18cm in length.

The Large-billed Lark is found only in the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape Provinces as well as the southern Free State, Lesotho and extreme southern Namibia. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern.

Large-billed Lark

Large-billed Larks (photo by Joubert)

Large-billed Lark

A window into the life cycle of the Garden Acraea

9 Replies

The Garden Acraea is by far the most numerous butterfly in our little garden, and as I type this there’s at least a dozen of them flitting around the plumbago and Cape honeysuckle shrubs in my field of view. This year I’ve paid even more attention than usual to them and been rewarded with a window into their fascinating life cycle.

Two Garden Acraeas mating

In April we started noticing large numbers of caterpillars in their final instar moving around the garden, with some of them even finding safe refuges on the patio furniture and security bars in front of the windows where they could start their metamorphosis.

Garden Acraea caterpillar looking for a place to pupate

It took several months for them to shed their last caterpillar “skin” to reveal the hard chrysalis inside which they were transforming. Sadly some of the pupae dropped from their safe havens, but I could save a few from marauding ants and put them in a jar on my desk where I could keep a close eye on them.

Garden Acraea Pupa

Garden Acraea Pupae

Garden Acraea Pupa

It didn’t take anywhere near as long – only a few weeks – for the adult butterflies to start emerging.

Newly emerged Garden Acraea

Soon their wings were unfurled and they could take flight in the same garden where they started their lives.

One of the pupaes I kept in a jar on my desk taking on the wide world outside

Clicking Stream Frog

19 Replies

Strongylopus grayii

The Clicking Stream Frog’s call is a good impersonation of a human tongue click, hence the common name. They’re small frogs, measuring at most 5cm in length, found only in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (Swaziland) and ranging from our west coast, through the Little Karoo and Garden Route, through most of the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal and then to the higher lying regions of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. They are particularly common in the south-western corner of the country that receives most of its rainfall in winter. They’re regularly found in or near ponds and small dams as well as shallow streams, and so tolerant of poor water quality that they’ll even breed in flooded refuse pits.

Clicking Stream Frogs lay their eggs in moist spots next to the water’s edge. Females can produce up to 350 eggs. In wet weather the tadpoles may emerge within 5 days of the eggs being laid and then scramble to the water, but in dry weather the eggs could remain viable for up to 2 months. It takes 3 to 6 months for the tadpoles to go through the full metamorphosis to adult frog form.

Clicking Stream Frog

Swee Waxbill

11 Replies

Coccopygia melanotis

The Swee Waxbill occurs only in South Africa (it is absent from the dry western and open central parts of the country), Lesotho and eSwatini (Swaziland) with a tiny, isolated population in South-central Zimbabwe. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern.

Swee Waxbills are omnivores, feeding mostly on grass seeds and tiny insects. They’re most commonly found on the edges of and clearings in forests and woodlands and will venture into well-planted gardens from time to time, becoming quite unafraid of humans. They’re usually seen in pairs or small groups, getting their name from the soft contact calls they make while moving around.

Swee Waxbills breed from mid-spring to late summer. Monogamous pairs work together to construct their oval-shaped grass nest, usually placed high in a tree or other dense vegetation. Clutches of up to 9 eggs are incubated by both parents over a 2 week period. The chicks leave the nest when they’re about 3 weeks old and remain with their parents for a similar time thereafter before dispersing. They’re tiny birds and fully grown weigh less than 8g.

Swee Waxbill

Swee Waxbill (photo by Joubert)

Topaz Spotted Blue Butterfly

16 Replies

Azanus jesous

The Topaz Spotted Blue occurs commonly through most of South Africa, being absent only from the drier western reaches of the country, and inhabits a wide range of habitats where they gather in numbers around flowering thorn trees or to drink from puddles. Adults, with a wingspan of less than 3cm, can be seen throughout the year though their numbers peak in summer. The larvae feeds on several different kinds of thorn trees (Acacia sensu lato and Dichrostachys).

Topaz Spotted Blue

Topaz-spotted Blue / Topaz Babul Blue

Spekboom

16 Replies

Portulacaria afra

The Spekboom (“Bacon Tree”) is a succulent shrub or small tree of up to 5m tall that occurs naturally from the Little Karoo, through the Eastern Cape – where it is the dominant plant species in parts of the province, like the Addo Elephant National Park – and Kwazulu-Natal and into the Lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. It grows best on warm, rocky slopes. It is listed as being of least concern in the Red List of South African Plants.

Spekboom is browsed heavily by game (including elephants) and livestock, and humans too use the leaves in salads or as medicine for skin conditions and other ailments. Easily grown from cuttings, Spekboom is a popular garden plant and widely established in many parts of the world. In recent years the Spekboom’s incredible ability to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere coupled with its ease of propagation has received much attention as a possible mitigating measure against climate change.