Category Archives: South African Wildlife

The inhabitants of South Africa’s wild places

Karoo Chat

Emarginata (Cercomela)* schlegelii*

Surprisingly common for a bird occurring in arid scrubland and grasslands, often in rocky or gravelly places, the Karoo Chat subsists on a diet of insects foraged on the ground. They’re usually encountered singly, in pairs or small family groups and normally stay well clear of areas of human habitation, in contrast with its better known cousin, the Familiar Chat.

The female takes sole responsibility for building the deep cup-shaped nest, using twigs and sticks, at the base of a shrub, the task taking her about a week to complete. Clutches of 2-4 eggs may be laid at any time of year, especially in response to unseasonal rainfall, but nesting usually takes place in spring and summer. Pairs are monogamous and territorial throughout the year, and both parents take care of the chicks. Fully grown Karoo Chats measure around 17cm in length and weigh about 32g.

True to their habitat preference, Karoo Chats are found in south-west Angola, western Namibia and arid western South Africa (particularly in the Northern and Western Cape and marginally into the bordering Free State and Eastern Cape). The IUCN does not consider it to be of conservation concern.

Karoo Chat

Karoo Chats

Karoo Chat

Karoo Chats bickering

Four-colour Nudibranch

22 Replies

Godiva quadricolor

The Four-colour Nudibranch is a shell-less mollusc found naturally along the South African coast, but has also been recorded as an exotic alien in Australia and the Mediterranean, where it is thought they were transported to by commercial shipping. They live from the intertidal zone to a depth of up to 20m. Their cerata – the “horns” covering the 4cm long body in bold warning colours – are tipped with stinging nematocysts, which the slug uses to protect itself. These slugs are predators, feeding on other nudibranchs, hydrozoa and other small organisms, while also probably feeding on the remains of dead vertebrates. Like other slugs and snails they are hermaphrodites and produce masses of eggs that hatch within 4 days of being fertilized (internally) and laid.

While visiting with Marilize’s parents in Jeffreys Bay over the New Year we came across this beautiful slug in a rock pool at the main beach. I think its natural beauty is further enhanced by the multitude of colourful shell shards surrounding it in these pictures.

Four-colour Nudibranch (Godiva quadricolor)

Lark-like Bunting

8 Replies

Emberiza impetuani

The Lark-like Bunting is a rather inconspicuous seed-eating bird that inhabits arid shrub- and grasslands and savannas. This species is highly nomadic, travelling over extensive areas in response to localised rainfall and increased food abundance. Being social birds they often congregate in enormous flocks numbering in the thousands, and regularly mix with other seed-eating birds (such as finch-larks, canaries, sparrows and buntings). They appear to need regular access to water and are seldom found far from waterholes.

Lark-like Buntings breed in response to rainfall with a peak in spring and summer, when monogamous pairs produce clutches of 2-4 eggs incubated for a two-week period in untidy cup-shaped nests built on the ground at the base of a rock or shrub. The chicks leave the nest when they’re about two weeks old. Fully grown they measure 15cm in length and weigh around 15g.

In South Africa Lark-like Buntings are found in all provinces, with the marked exception of the eastern reaches of the Eastern Cape and almost all of Kwazulu-Natal, and reach their highest densities in the Karoo regions in the west of the country. Beyond our borders they’re also found in Nambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Angola. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern.

Lark-like Bunting

Stony Point Nature Reserve

13 Replies

Betty’s Bay is a quaint seaside village on South Africa’s south-western coastline, about 90km from Cape Town (part of the route follows the scenically spectacular R44 Clarence Drive along the False Bay coastline, offering superb whale-watching at the right time of year). The town’s most endearing residents – African Penguins – have lived at this address since 1982 in one of just three mainland breeding colonies of these charismatic birds. What used to be the Waaygat Whaling Station until the mid-1900’s is now the Stony Point Nature Reserve, a haven for not only the penguins but many other species of wildlife as well. Of archeological interest at Stony Point is a midden of abalone shells indicative of the lifestyle of Khoisan people dating back to before colonial times.

Stony Point Nature Reserve

Looking out towards and beyond the watch tower that served the Waaygat Whaling Station

Looking out towards the watch tower that served the Waaygat Whaling Station

Stony Point Nature Reserve

The stars of this show is undoubtedly the African Penguins, with about 2,000 breeding pairs of these endangered birds now at home here. The management authority have provided artificial nests made of fibreglass to the penguins as the site does not yet have the deep deposit of guano that penguins require to dig their nest burrows as is their natural habit.

African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve

African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve (photo by Joubert)

Young African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve (photo by Joubert)

African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve

African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve

Moulting African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve

African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve

African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve

African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve

African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve (photo by Joubert)

African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve

Besides the penguins four species of cormorant breed on the rocks of Stony Point, while many other kinds of sea, shore and land birds also find a home here and dassies, lizards and agamas vie for position to bathe in the sun on the rocks.

Egyptian Goose (photo by Joubert)

Cape Cormorants at Stony Point

Cape Girdled Lizard

Southern Rock Agama female

Cattle Egret

Cape Girdled Lizard

Southern Rock Agama male

Karoo Prinia

Rock Dassie (or Hyrax)

The Stony Point Nature Reserve is managed by CapeNature. An enclosed walkway leading through the colony, with informative displays along the way, allows visitors to view the penguins and other wildlife at close quarters without disturbing them. At the entrance to the walkway is a very popular restaurant operated by a local community organisation.

Eastern Grey Squirrel

24 Replies

Sciurus carolinensis

The Eastern Grey Squirrel is not indigenous to South Africa. It was imported from North America to the city of Cape Town, by way of Great Britain, in the late 1890’s. Thankfully it has not spread much further than Cape Town’s suburbs and surrounding towns in the years since, as it relies on the nuts of plants like oaks and pines that also are not found naturally in this country. In addition they’ve been recorded feeding on cultivated fruits from orchards and gardens, fungi, insects and eggs.

Eastern Grey Squirrels are usually encountered alone or as small family groups. They nest in holes in trees or construct their own nests – called dreys – in the forks of branches. While they’re very agile in trees they often forage on the ground. They’re also well known for hoarding food stores by burying it for later consumption. Litters of 1-4 kits are born at anytime of year and leave the nest when they’re about 2 months old. In the wild they may live to about 8 years old, though most die within two years of birth. Adults weigh around 550g and measure between 40 and 50cm in length, of which the tail accounts for roughly half.

Eastern Grey Squirrel at the Tokai Picnic Site (photo by Joubert)

Eastern Grey Squirrel at the Tokai Picnic Site

One of the very best places to see these critters locally are in the Tokai Plantation, a spacious picnic area managed as part of the Table Mountain National Park.

Cecil John Rhodes, the man responsible for establishing the Eastern Grey Squirrel (and Chaffinch and Common Starling) in South Africa, is a controversial figure. A staunch proponent of British imperialism, he amassed an enormous fortune here at the southern end of Africa. As this isn’t a political blog we won’t delve into his legacy any further, but whether you despise or admire the man you cannot help but be impressed by the magnificent memorial erected for him on the slopes of Devil’s Peak (inside the Table Mountain National Park) in Cape Town after his death at the rather young age of 48 in 1902.

Rhodes Memorial

Cape Fur Seal

6 Replies

Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus

The Cape Fur Seal is the only seal that is native to the continent of Africa, being found from Namibia’s Atlantic coast to Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) on South Africa’s Indian Ocean coast (rarely further east to East Londen). They live in coastal waters, roaming up to 160km from the coastline, and prey mainly on schooling fishes like sardines and mackarel, octopuses, chokka (a type of squid), crabs, lobsters and other invertebrates. While hunting the seals can dive up to 200m deep and stay submerged for up to 8 minutes!

Cape Fur Seal breeding colonies are usually located on rocky islands and shores, though there are a few on sandy beaches. Bulls establish their territories from mid-October in preparation of the cows arriving about a month later, first to give birth to a single pup and then to mate with the “beach master” – the bull in control of that territory and the harem of cows in it – about a week later. The harems break up by end of December when all the females of reproductive age have been mated. The pups can’t swim until they’re about 3 months old and are prone to drowning after being struck of the rocks by freak waves or being caught by land-based predators like jackals and hyenas. Adult bull seals, at 2.4m in length and up to 360kg in weight, are much bigger than the cows who weigh up to 115kg. They may live to about 18-21 years of age in the wild, though even adults may fall prey to sharks and killer whales.

Cape Fur Seals

Seal solony on offshore rocks at Cape Columbine

Cape Fur Seal playing offshore at Yzerfontein

Young Cape Fur Seal on the beach at Tsaarsbank

Cape Fur Seal swimming in the Langebaan Lagoon

Seal colony at the Cape of Good Hope

Cape Fur Seals in Hout Bay harbour

Seal colony on Duiker Island

Seal colony on Duiker Island (photo by Joubert)

Seal colony on Duiker Island

Seal colony on Duiker Island (photo by Joubert)

Cape Fur Seals in Hout Bay harbour

Cape Fur Seal in Hout Bay harbour (photo by Joubert)

Cape Fur Seals

Cape Fur Seal tearing a drowned cormorant chick apart

Several operators use the Hout Bay harbour near Cape Town to conduct sight-seeing tours of about an hour to the large seal colony at Duiker Island. During our December 2022 tour of the Western Cape we booked ourselves on the Calypso operated by Circe Launches for one such trip, and found the company a thoroughly professional outfit that we’d gladly recommend and certainly use again ourselves.

Hout Bay from Chapman’s Peak Drive

Hout Bay and harbour

Hout Bay harbour

Jellyfish in Hout Bay harbour

Kelp Gull

Cape Cormorant

Calypso

Duiker Island from the Calypso

Seal colony on Duiker Island

Open ocean

Yellow Weaver

12 Replies

Ploceus subaureus

The Yellow Weaver, or Eastern Golden Weaver, is a very social bird closely associated with reedbeds lining coastal rivers, lakes, dams and other permanent waterbodies, venturing into the surrounding savanna to search for the seeds, insects and nectar on which it feeds. Fully grown they weigh approximately 31g and measure 15cm in length.

Yellow Weavers breed colonially during spring and summer and will often occur alongside other weaver species. The males are polygamous, weaving several circular grass nests, often directly over the water, and trying to impress as many females as possible. The female is solely responsible for incubating the clutch of 2-4 eggs and caring for the chicks, which leave the nest at about 3 weeks old.

In South Africa the Yellow Weaver is confined to the coastal plain along the Indian Ocean coastline from the Eastern Cape to far northern Kwazulu-Natal. Beyond our borders their distribution extends as far as central Kenya. According to the IUCN the Yellow Weaver is of least concern.

Yellow Weaver

Eastern Golden (or Yellow) Weaver male (female in the background)

Eastern Golden (or Yellow) Weaver

Eastern Golden (or Yellow) Weaver female

Eastern Golden (or Yellow) Weaver

Yellow Weaver

Collared Pratincole

29 Replies

Glareola pratincola

The Collared Pratincole is a migrant to South Africa, usually arriving to breed from about July and departing again by February. They’re found in open habitats – overgrazed grasslands, floodplains, sand banks and so on – near reliable large water sources like dams, lakes and estuaries. They’re most active by dusk and dawn, catching insects in flight and on the ground, and often follow herds of game or stock to catch the invertebrates they flush.

Adult Collared Pratincoles measure about 25cm in length with a weight of around 75g. While they’re usually seen in substantial flocks, often numbering into the thousands, they are monogamous breeders, laying clutches of 2 eggs in shallow depressions (like animal footprints) on the bare ground. Incubation takes a little less than 3 weeks and is shared between the parents. The chicks start flying when they’re about 4 weeks old.

The Collared Pratincole is very widely distributed over Africa, Europe and west and central Asia. and the IUCN lists it to be of least concern overall. In South Africa they are found, mostly during our spring and summer months, in the Lowveld and northern Kwazulu-Natal, and are considered rare and near-threatened.

Collared pratincole

Collared Pratincole

Collared Pratincole taking flight

Flock of Collared Pratincoles

Collared Pratincole

Rufous-winged Cisticola

16 Replies

Cisticola galactotes

The Rufous-winged Cisticola, also known as the Black-backed Cisticola, occurs only in a rather limited portion of Southern Africa, stretching from southern Malawi and central Mozambique southwards to the Kwazulu-Natal / Eastern Cape border in South Africa. It is very common where it occurs and the IUCN lists it as being of least concern.

As with others of its family the Rufous-winged Cisticola is a small bird, measuring about 13cm long and weighing only about 13g. It inhabits low-lying wetlands, reedbeds, adjacent grassland and sugarcane plantations, living mainly of insects. They are usually seen singly or in pairs. Rufous-winged Cisticolas are monogamous and build their ball-shaped nests just slightly above ground or water level in dense vegetation in marshy areas. Their breeding season spans spring and summer, during which the pair raise a brood of 2-4 chicks. The incubation period lasts about 2 weeks, with the chicks leaving the nest about the same length of time after hatching.

Rufous-winged Cisticola

Southern Banded Snake Eagle

18 Replies

Circaetus fasciolatus

The Southern Banded Snake Eagle inhabits coastal forests and their edges where they feed primarily on reptiles, including venomous snakes, and amphibians. They will also venture into commercial timber plantations that replaced their native forest habitat over much of their local range.

Monogamous and territorial, pairs of Southern Banded Snake Eagles construct their stick-platform nests in the canopies of tall indigenous or plantation trees and usually use these for several consecutive breeding seasons. The female lays a single egg in spring and takes most of the responsibility for its incubation over a 7 week period and for caring for the chick at the nest for its first few weeks after hatching, while the male does most of the hunting to provide food for the female and chick. Fully grown they measure about 58cm long, boast a wingspan of around 1.25m and weigh approximately 1kg.

With a very low density population, estimated between 1,000 and 3,000 spreading over a distribution stretching along Africa’s Indian Ocean coast from southern Somalia to the northern corner of Kwazulu-Natal Province in South Africa, the IUCN considers the Southern Banded Snake Eagle to be near-threatened. Most of their very small local population, probably numbering well below 100 individuals and considered vulnerable, is found in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.