Category Archives: South African Wildlife

The inhabitants of South Africa’s wild places

Ludwig’s Bustard

Neotis ludwigii

Ludwig’s Bustard occurs only in the southern and western provinces of South Africa, Namibia and a corner of southern Angola. The IUCN considers it to be an endangered species, sadly indicating that, mainly due to in-flight collisions with telephone and power lines and wind turbines, their population has declined by at least 50% in the past 30 years.

The Ludwig’s Bustard inhabits open, arid scrubland in the Karoo, Kalahari and Namib, migrating considerable distances over these areas as it follows the rains and the resultant proliferation of seeds, rodents, insects and other invertebrates (it is an omnivore) that follows. They’re usually seen either singly or in small groups though congregations of up to 80 individuals have been recorded.

Male Ludwig’s Bustards are territorial, defending a small patch in which they try to keep and mate with as many females as possible during the breeding season that spans the spring and summer months, and playing no further role in the rearing of the precocial chicks. The female nests in a shallow scrape in the ground, usually surrounded by vegetation, incubating a clutch of 1-3 eggs. Fully grown they stand approximately 85cm tall, with a wingspan of up to 1.8m and weighing between 2.5kg and 4.5kg, males being considerably larger than females.

Ludwig’s Bustard

Ludwig’s Bustards

Ludwig’s Bustard

Ludwig’s Bustard coming in for a landing

Ludwig’s Bustards

Ludwig’s Bustard

Karoo Toad

7 Replies

Vandijkophrynus gariepensis

The Karoo Toad is a medium-sized toad found in the dry Karoo, fynbos and moist mountain grassland from the Drakensberg on the border of the Free State and Kwazulu-Natal to the Atlantic coast of the Northern Cape. It is remarkably well adapted to both the extreme winter cold in the mountains and the high temperatures and dry climate of the West Coast. Adults are only about 7-9cm long, the females being larger than the males by a considerable margin. Like most other toads the Karoo Toad feeds mainly on worms and insects.

Karoo Toad

Karoo Toad in the road

Karoo Toad

(Presumed) Karoo Toad

Fairy Flycatcher

10 Replies

Stenostira scita

The tiny Fairy Flycatcher occurs only in South Africa and Lesotho and marginally into neighbouring Namibia and Botswana. Their distribution in our winter months is much wider than in the rest of the year. Fairy Flycatchers live in the more arid and open regions of the country, preferring areas of thorny shrubland and grasslands with pockets of thorn trees, though they have become increasingly numerous in suburban gardens and plantations. Their diet is restricted to invertebrates, including insects and spiders, and they are usually seen singly or in pairs but only very rarely in small groups.

At the start of the nesting period in our spring season the female constructs a cup-shaped nest using very fine materials in a dense shrub. She also takes sole responsibility for incubating the clutch of 2 or 3 eggs which hatch within 3 weeks of being laid, though the male will provide her with food while she is on the nest. Fully grown Fairy Flycatchers weigh only about 6g and measure approximately 11cm in length.

According to the IUCN the Fairy Flycatcher is not at risk of extinction.

Fairy Flycatcher

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin

14 Replies

Tursiops aduncus

The Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin has a wide distribution in the coastal waters off Australia, Asia and Africa’s eastern seaboard. Locally they’re found as far west as Table Bay, living on a diet of fish and squid.

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins live in pods numbering between 20 and 2,000 individuals. Females give birth to a single baby at 2-6 year intervals, following a 12-month long gestation. Fully grown, these dolphins measure about 2.6m in length and weigh between 150-230kg, and have a life expectancy of up to 40 years in the wild.

The IUCN considers the Indian Ocean Bottlenose Dolphin to be near-threatened, citing the species’ coastal occurrence which brings them into contact with many negative human-induced factors but also indicating that there’s been insufficient research on their population numbers and trends on a global scale.

Indian Ocean Bottlenose Dolphin

Dolphins in the waves at Cape Vidal

Dolphin tricks

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin

Buff-streaked Chat

10 Replies

Campicoloides bifasciatus

The Buff-streaked Chat is a bird that is found only in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), where it occurs mainly on the Drakensberg range and in its foothills (with an apparently isolated population in the Waterberg), being a denizen of grassy, boulder-strewn hillsides and isolated rocky outcrops, though it has also adapted to living near human dwellings on farms and in small towns. They feed primarily on insects and other invertebrates, taking seeds and nectar on occasion.

Usually encountered in territorial pairs, Buff-streaked Chats breed in the summer months, when the female builds a large, untidy cup of twigs, fine roots and grass in which she incubates a clutch of 2-4 eggs, usually in a crevice, under an overhanging rock or in a thick tuft of grass. Both parents take care of the nestlings and are often assisted by the young from the previous brood. Fully grown they measure about 16cm in length and weigh approximately 30g.

The IUCN considers the Buff-streaked Chat to be of least concern, and though commonly encountered where they occur their habitat must’ve been severely diminished in recent history with the proliferation on exotic plantations in their preferred distribution range.

Buff-streaked Chat

Male Buff-streaked Chat (photo by Joubert)

Female Buff-streaked Chat (photo by Joubert)

Common Brown Water Snake

9 Replies

Lycodonomorphus rufulus

The Common Brown Water Snake is a small snake that on average grows to about 60cm in length, adult females being considerably larger than males. It is of no danger to anything except the small frogs, tadpoles and fish it feeds on, being as its name suggests closely associated with watery habitats where it is an excellent swimmer. The Common Brown Water Snake is non-venomous and kills its prey by constriction. It is placid by nature and rarely bites when handled. Females lay between 10 and 20 eggs in the summer months, with the babies hatching about 2 months later.

We have Joubert’s sharp eyes to thank for seeing this beautifully camouflaged specimen at a stream in the Mountain Zebra National Park. The sighting was rather unusual as these snakes are usually active at night.

Common Brown Water Snake (photo by Joubert)

Common Brown Water Snake

Chocolate Bells

10 Replies

Trichodesma physaloides

A conspicuous and beautiful plant when in bloom during the spring season on our Highveld grasslands, Chocolate Bells are found in parts of Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Kwazulu-Natal. They’re well adapted to survive the worst elements of life on the Highveld – cold, frosty winters and frequent veld fires – in fact the plants often don’t flower at all if they weren’t subjected to a fire first!

Chocolate Bells

Bradfield’s Hornbill

8 Replies

Today is Birding Big Day in South Africa, so in a clever twist of irony we’re showcasing a bird that none of the participants in the event is at all likely to encounter! 😀

Lophoceros (Tockus) bradfieldi

Bradfield’s Hornbill is found in only five Southern African countries: Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. According to the IUCN it is not in any imminent danger of extinction though it does note that the population is probably in decline due to habitat loss as a result of logging operations. They occur in savanna-woodland and feed mainly on invertebrates, small vertebrates, seeds and berries. They’re usually seen in pairs or small flocks.

Typical of most hornbills, Bradfield’s Hornbill also breeds in holes in trees in which the female is plastered inside with the (usually) three eggs for the 4 week incubation period while the male feeds her through a slit. She leaves the nest a few days after the chicks hatched to help the male feed them until they’re ready to leave the nest at almost 2 months old. The parents take care of the chicks for another month of so thereafter.

Bradfield’s Hornbill

Star Lily

11 Replies

Genus Hypoxis

There is at least 90 species of plant in the genus Hypoxis, known colloquially as the Star Lily, with indigenous representatives being found in Australia, Asia, the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa. Almost half the known species are found in southern Africa. Most species occur in grasslands. They grow to about 50cm tall, with the star-shaped flowers – bright yellow in colour in the majority of species – being rather short lived. Leaves and flowers are only borne in the warmer months, with the plants overwintering through their underground rootstock. It is this rootstock that is used traditionally as food and medicine that gave the Star Lily its alternative name of African Potato, now even researched in western medicine as an immune booster.

Hypoxis flowers dotting a recently burned grassland

Hypoxis flowers

Star Lily (Hypoxis) flowers

Seems not only human females require flowers for the romance to blossom – these beetles are mating on a Hypoxis stem

Ithala in full bloom (Hypoxis flower)

Hypoxis flower in Golden Gate

Hypoxis flowers

Wild Rosemary

2 Replies

Eriocephalus africanus

Our Wild Rosemary, known in Afrikaans as Kapokbos (“snow bush”) because of its appearance when covered by masses of fluffy white seeds mid-winter, is an evergreen shrub that grows to about 1m tall and wide. The fragrant leaves can be used in perfume or to freshen rooms in homes, though it also taints the milk of goats that feed on it. It can be used in cooking instead of traditional rosemary and a tea made of it can be used to treat cold symptoms and stomach ailments. It can even be used to wash your hair! The Wild Rosemary is a beautiful and easy to care for addition to indigenous gardens. Naturally it grows best in rocky soil in the drier parts of our Eastern, Western and Northern Cape Provinces.