Category Archives: South African Wildlife

The inhabitants of South Africa’s wild places

Martial Eagle

Polemaetus bellicosus

The Martial Eagle, with a wingspan of up to 2.6m and weight of as much as 6kg, is Africa’s biggest eagle. Females are considerably larger than males. They occupy a wide range of flat and open habitats, ranging from semi-desert to woodland. Martial Eagles are big and powerful enough to subsist on a diet of large vertebrates up to the size of small antelopes and kori bustards, and have a special taste for nile and rock monitor lizards. Their exceptional eyesight allows them to detect prey from even 6km distant, and they often soar at great height.

Martial Eagles are usually seen singly or in pairs, adults forming monogamous, permanent pair-bonds and defending a sizable territory. They prefer to build their huge stick nests in tall trees but will also utilise man-made structures like utility pylons and windpumps for the purpose. The breeding season stretches from autumn to spring, with a single egg being laid. The female takes most of the responsibility for incubating the egg (which takes around 7 weeks) and brooding the chick, only starting to help the male hunt a fortnight or so after the chick has hatched. While the chick makes its first flight at an age of about 3 months it will remain with its parents until they start breeding again.

Martial Eagles occur throughout South Africa, but are most numerous inside our bigger conservation areas and uncommon outside these areas, and have for the most part been exterminated entirely from urbanized environs. It also occurs widely over sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of the equatorial forests. It is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, with populations declining mainly as a result of being persecuted as stock killers and through loss of habitat and natural prey,

Martial Eagle

Martial Eagle surveying his landscape

Martial Eagle

Martial eagle

Martial Eagle

Martial Eagle (photo by Joubert)

Martial Eagle

Martial Eagle with its Scrub Hare prey

Martial Eagle

Martial Eagle with Steenbok prey

Immature Martial Eagle

Martial Eagle

Martial Eagle (photo by Joubert)

Martial Eagle

Large Spotted Genet

35 Replies

Genetta maculata

The Large Spotted Genet is a great example of dynamite in a small package. These lithe omnivores weigh only around 1 – 3kg, are around a meter long (including the tail) and stand just 15cm high at the shoulder, but they’re skilled predators of anything up to the size of hares, small crocodiles and guineafowl and include such varied fair as invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, fish, crabs, rodents carrion and fruit in their diet. Large Spotted Genets inhabit mesic savannas, riverine woodlands and forests.

Large Spotted Genets are nocturnal and very rarely seen in the daylight, usually only becoming active well after nightfall. By day they hide in thickets, holes in trees, crevices among boulders, tunnels dug by other animals and even in the roofs of buildings. Though they are excellent climbers and can jump distances of up to 4m between trees, they do most of their hunting on the ground. They are mostly solitary, any groupings encountered being either a mating pair or mother with young.

Females give birth to between 1 and 5 pups in spring and summer after a two month gestation period. The young are weaned at 2 months after birth, but will remain with their mother until they are around 6 months old. They are fully grown by about 11 months and have a life expectancy of between 8 and 14 years in the wild. Large Spotted Genets fall prey to a wide range of predators, including large owls, pythons, leopards, caracal and jackals.

The IUCN lists the Large Spotted Genet as being of least concern. It occurs from Kwazulu-Natal, through Mpumalanga and the eastern half of the Limpopo Province, through much of our neighbouring states to the north and throughout central and eastern Africa as far as Burkina Faso in the west and Eritrea in the northeast.

Large Spotted Genet

Large-spotted Genet

Large Spotted Genet in Punda Maria

Large Spotted Genet track

Large-spotted Genet patrolling outside our bungalow at Skukuza

Large Spotted Genet captured on my camera-trap on the camp perimeter

Large-spotted Genet outside Satara’s fence

Large-spotted Genet seen on a night drive from Satara

Large-spotted Genet in Tamboti

Cape, or South African Large-spotted Genet caught by our camera-trap outside our chalet at Bontebok National Park

Large-spotted Genet outside our cabin in the dark of night

Large-spotted Genet

Large-spotted Genet (photo by Joubert)

Large-spotted Genet

The Cape Genet, or South African Large Spotted Genet (Genetta tigrina), which occurs from the Western Cape along the coast and adjacent interior as far north as Durban in Kwazulu-Natal, is difficult to distinguish from the Common Large Spotted Genet (G. maculata) and is considered the same species by some authorities.

Orange-breasted Bushshrike

38 Replies

Chlorophoneus sulfureopectus

As they are shy and retiring birds, much more often heard than seen as they move around in the upper stories of tall trees looking for insect prey, any encounter with the Orange-breasted Bushshrike is a special treat. It is a bird of savanna and woodland thickets and forest margins, often near or along rivers and streams. It is one of the smaller members of the family, measuring only 19cm in length and weighing around 27g. These lovely birds usually move around in monogamous pairs. They build shallow cup-shaped stick nests in trees during the breeding season which stretches from spring to late summer.

The Orange-breasted Bushshrike is widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal in West Africa to here in South Africa, where they are to be found from the Eastern Cape, through Kwazulu-Natal, to Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the North West Province. The IUCN considers this species to be of least concern.

Orange-breasted Bushshrike (immature)

Orange-breasted Bushshrike (female)

Orange-breasted Bushshrike (male)

Orange-breasted Bushshrike

Orange-breasted Bush Shrike

Orange-breasted Bush-shrike

Orange-breasted Bush Shrike

Citrus Swallowtail

15 Replies

Papilio (Princeps) demodocus

The large Citrus Swallowtail butterfly (wingspan of 9 to 13cm) commonly occurs all over South Africa as well as the rest of the continent south of the Sahara, inhabiting a wide variety of habitats. They are strong fliers, often pausing on flowers and at mud puddles. Though they may be encountered throughout the year they are most frequently seen in the high summer, explaining why they’re also known as the “Christmas Butterfly”. Females lay eggs singly on the tops of leaves, the eggs hatching only a few days later. Their larvae can become pests in citrus orchards, Citrus-plants being just one of several related food plants utilised by this widely distributed species. Adults feed on nectar and rotting fruit.

There seems to be butterflies everywhere you look in the forest – these are mating Citrus Swallowtails

Citrus Swallowtail

Black-bellied Bustard

29 Replies

Lissotis melanogaster

The Black-bellied Bustard is an inhabitant of higher rainfall grassland, savanna and woodland habitats, usually with tall, dense grass cover in which it is fairly difficult to see and often near wetlands. Insects and other invertebrates make up the bulk of their diet, with a bit of berries, seeds and green leaves thrown in for variety. With a weight of up to 2.7kg the males are considerably bigger than the females, which averages around 1.4kg.

Black-bellied Bustards are usually seen singly or in temporary pairs, the latter mainly during the breeding season (which spans spring and summer) when males will attempt to mate with as many females as possible. Apart from an elaborate flying display the male also employs a most amusing two-step call with which it tries to impress the females, almost as if he has a burp stuck in his throat released with a load “pop”! The female lays a well camouflaged clutch of 1 or 2 eggs in a scrape on the bare ground, usually between tufts of grass, and is singly responsible for the incubation of the eggs and the care of the chicks.

The IUCN lists the Black-bellied Bustard as being of least concern, though it also notes that its populations are probably dropping due to habitat degradation. It is widely distributed in the savanna regions of sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal to Ethiopia and southwards to South Africa, where it occurs in Kwazulu-Natal and the Escarpment and Lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

Black-bellied Bustard

Black-bellied bustard

Black-bellied Bustard

Black-bellied Bustard (female)

Black-belliedBustard

Black-bellied Bustard (photo by Joubert)

Black-bellied Bustard

Black-bellied Bustard (photo by Joubert)

Black-belled Bustard

Black-bellied Bustard (photo by Joubert)

Black-bellied Bustard

Black-bellied Bustard in soaring display flight

Waiting hours for a glimpse at a White Lion

27 Replies

White Lions are exceedingly rare and especially so in the wild. Several zoos, “safari parks” and circuses around the world house White Lions, but these are often horribly inbred. These lions are not albinos, instead being the result of a mating between two lions carrying a recessive gene for white (leucistic) fur instead of the usual tawny colouration. Naturally White Lions are only ever found, from time to time, in South Africa’s Lowveld, where the Kruger National Park and a few renowned private nature reserves are situated. As far as wild White Lions are concerned, at present, there are known to be two young white cubs in the same pride that roam around Orpen in western Kruger and the adjacent Timbavati reserve, and a single young male born to a pride near Satara and fairly wide-roaming since he and his brothers were ejected from their natal pride.

It is this latter individual that we came across on the 3rd of January 2020, the final full day of our Satara Summer. Having fairly often visited the Kruger National Park my entire life, it was always my, hitherto unfulfilled, wish to see a truly WILD White Lion, so you will appreciate just how excited we were at this opportunity! It was an exceedingly hot day, and on hot days lions are seldom very active. So we sat for hours in our vehicle in the blazing sun, waiting, hoping, that he might get up, and move around just a little, so that we can get more than just a glimpse. He obliged, for a minute or two only, to move from the large tree where he was lying with his three brothers to a smaller shrub a few meters away. That was it. He didn’t move again until we had to leave to get back to camp before the gates closed. But we were thrilled and grateful for the chance to see such an enigmatic animal.

On arriving at the scene, the White Lion is peeking at us from behind the tree

The four lions doing what lions do best

Finally, the White Lion gets up and stretches

He decides he doesn’t like his brothers in his personal space

White Lion

White Lion (photo by Joubert)

and moves to a smaller shrub

where he drops like a sack of potatoes in the shade once again

The first of his brothers walking over the clearing to join him

A Giraffe watching the lazy lions from a safe distance

A jackal and hooded vulture moving in for a closer look

The next brother rises and moves towards his white sibling

Snarling Lion (photo by Joubert)

Tawny Lion

Joining his white brother in a shady spot

And finally the last male gives in to peer pressure…

Two elephants passing the scene

Our final view of the lions as we depart for camp

While they can not be considered wild, there is a pride of White Lions on view at the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve near Johannesburg.

White Lions at the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve

White Lion at the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve

White Lion at the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserv

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

27 Replies

Pogoniulus bilineatus

The Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird is a denizen of densely vegetated woodlands and forests, where it feeds on fruits (especially of wild figs) and berries, and occasionally the odd insect, in the middle to upper stories. Its call is an often-heard sound of the dense habitats it frequents. Yellow-rumped Tinkerbirds are usually encountered singly or in pairs and breed throughout the year with a peak in the summer months, excavating nesting holes in the underside of a dead branch or stump. Clutches usually number between 2 and 5 (usually 3) eggs, incubated by both parents for about 2 weeks. The chicks leave the nest at about 3 weeks old. Adults measure only about 11cm in length and weigh a mere 15g or so.

The Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird is considered of least concern by the IUCN. It occurs in the forests of West and Central Africa, through the wetter parts of East Africa and along the Indian Ocean coast to South Africa, where it is found along the coast and adjacent hinterland of Kwazulu-Natal and the Lowveld and Escarpment of Mpumalanga.

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Velvet Ant

26 Replies

Mutillidae

There are several species of “Velvet Ant” (family Mutillidae) wasps in South Africa. If you’ve had a run-in with the female of this solitary wasp, like I have, you’d definitely agree that their sting is among the most painful of any insects, although not considered particularly toxic. Females are flightless and mimics foraging ants while the winged males on the other hand frequent flowers, and are stingless. They deposit their eggs on the larvae or pupa of other wasps and bees, on which their own young then feed and grow.

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

Velvet Ant (male)

Velvet Ant female

A Velvet Ant female – the females are flightless

Velvet Ant female

Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow

19 Replies

Gymnoris superciliaris

Yellow-throated Bush Sparrows (previously known as the Yellow-throated Petronia) inhabit dry woodland, savannas and riverine thickets with a sparse grass covering. They are usually encountered singly or in monogamous, fairly permanent pairs, often in the company of other seed-eating birds. Aside from seeds, which form their staple diet, these sparrow-like birds also consumes invertebrates and nectar, and will forage both on the ground and along large branches.

They sleep and breed in holes in trees, often using old woodpecker or barbet nests for the purpose. Their breeding season spans all of the spring and summer months, with the female being responsible for the incubation of the eggs. Adults grow to 16cm in length with a weight of around 24g.

The IUCN considers the Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow to be of least concern. In South Africa they can be found in the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West Province, while they’re also widely distributed over much of the rest of Africa south of the Equator.

Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow

Brown-veined White Butterfly

24 Replies

Belenois aurota

The Brown-veined White could probably be South Africa’s most commonly seen butterfly, occurring throughout the year and migrating in their millions between December and February away from areas of overcrowding in the arid west towards the Mozambique Channel, laying batches of around 20 eggs at their point of departure and along the way as they go. The Shepherd’s Tree is the preferred larval food plant for this species here in South Africa, but they are also found over most of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa and across Arabia and the Indian subcontinent where other members of the Caper plant-family would be important food sources. Adults, with a wingspan of about 4.5cm, feed on nectar and, while they are strong fliers, often pause at wet soil and mud for a drink.