Category Archives: South African Wildlife

The inhabitants of South Africa’s wild places

Rainbow Skink

Trachylepis margaritifera

The Rainbow Skink, or Five-lined Skink, is an active lizard occurring in rocky terrain in savanna habitats from Kwazulu-Natal, through the Lowveld and Limpopo Valley to as far north as Kenya. They feed primarily on insects and other invertebrates. Males are territorial. Females lay one, perhaps two, clutches of 6-10 eggs in summer, with the baby skinks emerging around two months later. Females, adolescents and immature males exhibit the distinct lines and brilliant blue tails associated with this species, while the adult males have an olive base-colouration speckled with tiny white spots. Adults may grow to 20cm in length, including the tail. The IUCN lists the Rainbow Skink as being of least concern.

Rainbow Skink

Rainbow Skink (male)

Rainbow Skink

Rainbow Skink (male)

Male Rainbow Skink

Rainbow Skink female

Male Rainbow Skink

Rainbow Skink male, female and juvenile

Male Rainbow Skink

Violet-backed Starling

17 Replies

Cinnyricinclus leucogaster

Violet-backed Starlings occur throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa, migrating to South Africa to breed from October to April and they can then be found in Kwazulu Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West Province. They inhabit savannas, various kinds of woodland habitats, and gardens, feeding on fruit and insects.

The Violet-backed Starling is one of the smaller members of its family, growing to about 18cm in length and weighing around 45g. The males and females are so dimorphic that they may easily be confused for two different species.

Usually seen in monogamous pairs, or small flocks (fewer than 20 birds) at the end of the breeding season before starting their migration back northwards, Violet-backed Starlings breed in holes in trees or fence posts. The female is singly responsible for the incubation of the clutch of 2-4 eggs over a 2 week period, though the male takes an active role in feeding the chicks until they fledge about 3 weeks after hatching.

The IUCN lists the Violet-backed Starling as being of least concern, though it does note that their populations may be declining due to habitat degradation.

Violet-backed Starling

Male Violet-backed Starling

Female Violet-backed Starling

Violet-backed Starling

Violet-backed Starling (male)

Violet-backed Starling (female)

Violet-backed Starling (male)

Female Violet-backed Starling

Violet-backed Starling male (photo by Joubert)

Female Violet-backed Starling (photo by Joubert)

Violet-backed Starlings

Single-striped Grass Mouse

25 Replies

Lemniscomys rosalia

A commonly encountered rodent thanks to its diurnal nature, the Single-striped Grass Mouse is found in a wide range of habitats, from dry scrub to savanna and even the edge of cultivated farmlands wherever good grass cover is available. Grass and seeds make up the bulk of its diet, with other green plant material and a wide range of invertebrates making up the remainder.

Single-striped Grass Mice dig their own burrows at the base of grass tussocks or bushes, from which a network of paths radiate under dense vegetation leading to their favourite foraging grounds. Home burrows may be inhabited by solitary individuals, pairs or family groups. Females give birth to litters of 2-11 babies (usually 4 or 5) during spring and summer after a 4 week gestation. The young are weaned within 3 weeks of birth. In the wild they seldom live longer than a year. Adults grow to a total length of up to 30cm, of which the tail makes up roughly half, and weigh around 60g.

The Single-striped Grass Mouse is considered of least concern and has two centres of distribution: a north-eastern in Kenya and Tanzania, and a southern from Zambia and Malawi to South Africa’s northern provinces (Limpopo, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal).

Single-striped Grass Mouse at Centenary Centre

Single-striped Grass Mouse

Village Weaver

31 Replies

Ploceus cucullatus

Village Weavers are often encountered in large, noisy flocks, inhabiting open savanna and woodland habitats, usually near water, as well as gardens, parks and agricultural fields. They’re omnivores, feeding on seeds, invertebrates, fruit and nectar and often found scavenging for scraps at picnic sites or around houses. They’re also often encountered in mixed flocks with other kinds of weavers and other small seed-eating bird species.

They breed colonially, males weaving their nests in trees, reeds or palms, often hanging over water, and trying to court as many females as possible – males can construct as many as 20 nests in a season! Females will also mate with several different males during the breeding season. There may be as many as 1,000 nests at the breeding colony. Their breeding season stretches from late winter through to autumn. The male plays no role in incubating the clutch of 2-5 eggs or raising the chicks. The eggs hatch about two weeks after being laid, and the chicks leave the nest when they’re about 3 weeks old. Adults measure around 16cm in length and weigh about 37g.

With a wide distribution over sub-Saharan Africa, and with probably the largest population of their genus, the Village Weaver is considered as being of least concern by the IUCN. In South Africa they occur from the Eastern Cape, through Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo to Gauteng and the North West Province.

Village Weaver (male)

Village Weaver (female)

Village Weaver (male)

Village Weaver (female)

Village Weaver (male)

Village Weaver nests hanging over a pool in the Sabie River

Village Weaver

Village Weaver colony

Village Weaver

Village Weaver (photo by Joubert)

Village Weaver

African Leopard Butterfly

18 Replies

Phalanta phalanta aethiopica

The strikingly beautiful and very active African Leopard butterfly inhabits savanna, woodland, forest edges, parks and gardens and is found over much of South Africa, excluding most of the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape Provinces. It is also known as the Common Leopard and is widely distributed over Africa, Australia, southern Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Eggs are laid singly on a wide range of larval food plants, including exotic poplars and willows. Adults have a wingspan of between 4 and 5.5cm and are on the wing throughout the year.

African Leopard (Phalanta-butterfly)

Beautiful African Leopard (Phalanta-butterfly)

African Leopard (Phalanta-butterfly)

African Leopard

African Leopard Butterfly

African Leopard butterfly (photo by Joubert)

African Leopard Butterfly

World Wildlife Day 2020

27 Replies

We can’t think of a better way to celebrate World Wildlife Day than to look back at the 64 species of South African wildlife we gave special attention to here at de Wets Wild over the past year.

Click on the first image, scroll through the gallery and by the end of it you are sure to believe, as we do, that South Africa is a treasure chest of beautiful creatures that you absolutely have to visit!

Garden Commodore (wet season colouration)

Black-collared Barbet

Cape Batis (female)

Boomslang

Drakensberg Malachite

Olive Thrush

Golden-breasted Bunting

River Lily

Cape Turtle Dove

Common Blue (Leptotes sp)

Jackal Buzzard

Speckled Rock Skink

White-rumped Swift

Highveld Cabbage Trees

African Olive Pigeon

Rainforest Brown butterfly

Levaillant’s Cisticola

Southern Rock Agama

Cape Canary

Common Tree Ferns

Male Greater Double-collared Sunbird

Yellow Pansy butterfly

African Hoopoe

Common River Frog

Common Sugarbush

Garden Acraea on exotic lantana

Rock Monitor

Male Southern Double-collared Sunbird

Ouhout leaves

Drakensberg Prinia

Gurney’s Sugarbird

Forest Canary

Rock Kestrel

Capped Wheatear

Cape Bunting

Cape Crow

Yellow-billed Oxpecker

Mopane leaves are uniquely butterfly- or spoor-shaped

Olive Sunbird

Thread-waisted Wasp and caterpillar prey at Marakele

Red-billed Teal

Beautiful impala lily flowers

Flap-necked Chameleon

Bennett’s Woodpecker (male)

African Monarch butterfly

Kurrichane Thrush

Sausage Tree Fruit

Purple-crested Turaco

Red Toad at home outside our cottage

White-crowned Lapwing

Brown-veined White

Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow

Velvet Ant female – This flightless wasp mimics an ant whle searching for unsuspecting prey.

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Black-bellied Bustard

Citrus Swallowtail

Orange-breasted Bush Shrike

Large-spotted Genet in Tamboti

Martial Eagle

Common Dwarf Gecko

Sabota Lark

Sickle Bush flowers

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

Two-pip Policeman (butterfly)

Two-pip Policeman

21 Replies

Coeliades pisistratus

The Two-pip Policeman butterfly is a denizen of coastal bush and savanna habitats, occurring from Kwazulu-Natal through Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West to the Free State and eastern portions of the Northern Cape Province. Furthermore it is found widely over the remainder of sub-Saharan Africa in similar habitats. Eggs are laid singly and the larvae feed on a wide range of plants, their development from egg to adult butterfly taking around two months to complete. Adults have a wingspan of 4.5 – 7cm and can be seen throughout the year. They fly fast and erratic and adults of both sexes are frequently seen at flowers or mud puddles, usually in the early morning or late afternoon. Males are territorial.

Two-pip Policeman

Two-pip Policeman (butterfly)

Two-pip Policeman

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

17 Replies

Turtur chalcospilos

The Emerald-spotted Wood Dove is a well-loved and common resident of many of South Africa’s better known nature reserves and national parks, where its melancholy call is often heard. They occur from the Eastern Cape to the North West Province, through Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng, and widely through central and east Africa. The Emerald-spotted Wood Dove inhabits woodland, thickets and savannas. They feed mainly on grass- and other kinds of seeds, but will also peck at fallen fruit and invertebrates.

Emerald-spotted Wood Doves are usually encountered singly or in monogamous pairs, very rarely forming larger aggregations. Typically, clutches of 2 eggs are incubated by both parents over a 2 week period in a flimsy stick nest built in a tree or tall shrub. The chicks grow quickly and fledge about two weeks after hatching. They breed throughout the year, with a distinct peak in spring and summer. Adults are about 20cm long and weigh around 64g.

The IUCN lists the Emerald-spotted Wood Dove as being of least concern.

Emerald-spotted wood dove

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

Emerald-spotted wood dove

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

Emerald Spotted Wood Dove

Emerald-spotted Wood Doves (photo by Joubert)

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

Sickle Bush

31 Replies

Dichrostachys cinerea

The Sickle Bush is a hardy, thorny shrub or small tree (maximum 7m high) occurring in the savanna habitats of South Africa’s Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and Northwest Provinces. In overgrazed areas the Sickle Bush quickly form dense thickets and as such can be problematic to farming communities, despite the leaves and pods being excellent fodder for game and small stock, and therefore regular clearing of such invasive thickets yield much sought-after firewood. It is considered to be of least concern by the IUCN. Apart from South Africa it occurs naturally over the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, South Asia and Australia, and has been introduced to the Caribbean and parts of North America.

The beautiful flowers are borne during summer, explaining where this plant gets its alternative local name of “Kalahari Christmas Tree” from. Apart from being used as fodder or firewood, or fashioned into small implements or fence posts, the roots, bark and leaves of the Sickle Bush is also used in traditional medicines. The species is also ideally suited to be made into attractive bonsai.

Sickle Bush bloom

Sickle Bush seedpods

Sickle Bush flowers

The flowers of the Sickle Bush

Sickle Bush flower

Sickle Bush

Sickle Bush flowers

Sickle Bush thorns

Sickle Bush thorn

Sickle Bush leaves

Sickle Bush flowers

Sabota Lark

19 Replies

Calendulauda sabota

The Sabota Lark is a common inhabitant of dry, open grasslands, savannas and scrublands, one of our most numerous larks. They feed on seeds and insects, and is apparently not dependent on a regular water supply. They love calling from a high vantage point, such as a treetop or pole, and mimicking the songs of other birds. It occurs only in parts of South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Angola. The IUCN lists it as being of Least Concern.

Normally seen singly, in monogamous pairs or small family groups, Sabota Larks breed during spring and summer. Their cup-shaped nests are usually built low to the ground, hidden amongs rocks or dense, thorny vegetation. Adult Sabota Larks weigh about 23g, attaining a total length of about 14cm.