Animal Sightings | Bird Sightings | Flora Sightings
In addition to having a characteristic call, the African Fish Eagle is unmistakeable with its white head and breast, chestnut belly and forewings, black and chestnut underwings and white tail. They do most of their hunting from perches overlooking water and only needed one fish weighing 150 grams or more to sustain its food requirements. It has been said that on average, a Fish Eagle spends only about 8 minutes fishing - the rest of the time is spent doing nothing, mainly preening...
Also known as "The Undertaker" (it is primarily a scavenger), it is usually identified by the long sausage-shaped pouch hanging from its throat. It often participates with vultures in clearing up game kills (it taps on the vulture's beak until it regurgitates and then eats the regurgitated contents). It also feeds on locust swarms. quelea colonies and concentrations of fish.
This is said to be one of Africa's truest eagles, with a distinctive "V" on their backs. The Black Eagle is a magnificent flyer. soaring effortlessly for hours as they patrol Bivack and the areas around it. An interesting feature is the fatal sibling aggression ("Cain and Abel" syndrome) between chicks, the first-hatched invariable killing the second before it is even 4 days old...
These birds are generally solitary in nature but may join up with other fish-eating birds to feed on shoals of fish along large rivers. Reaching only 65cm in length, they are usually completely white, with black bill and legs and yellow feet and eyes. They enjoy feeding on small fish, frogs, crabs and the like. A favoured method of hunting for them is to stand quite still for long periods of time and then lunge at their prey
This is the most important gamebird in Southern Africa and is well protected because of its important role in combating insect pests. Kept by the ancient Greeks and Romans, they mysteriously disappeared from Europe until Portuguese navigators reintroduced them in the 15th century. The Helmeted Guineafowl would have been introduced all over the world as a gamebird but for a major shortcoming: its reluctance to fly...
This is a wonderful little bird to look at, with its vivid colouring, floppy crest and interesting mannerisms. It is a highly territorial bird and usually nests in holes in dead trees. What makes it interesting is that it has a somewhat compulsive behaviou - from digging up holes to even peering into other birds' nests the whole time!
Quite a shy bird, this is the largest living heron in the world. It feeds mainly on fish which weigh up to 1 kilogram and spends much o fits time standing still in shallow water, waiting for prey. While dealing with its prey, the Heron is sometimes vulnerable to "food pirates" and it is not uncommon for an African Fish Eagle to dive at the Heron and force it to release its prey.
The Hoopoe is a familiar bird and is one of the most widely distributed birds in Africa. So called because of its "hoop-poop" call, they are generally quite tame and eat mainly insect larvae, small lizards and snakes.
This tiny bird is the commonest water kingfisher in Southern Africa next to the Pied Kingfisher. Being so small, it does not hunt from substantial perches but rather uses grass stems and reed blades. Often the first sign that it is around is when it dashes from such perches with a "whirring" flight low over the water after being disturbed...
A common sight at Bivack is the Pied Kingfisher hovering and then plunging into the water after a small fish. With its conspicuous black and white patterns on its body, long black bill and prominent crest, it is the second largest kingfisher in Southern Africa. Although it normally hunts small fish (which it swallows whole as it emerges from the water), it is not averse to larger fish as well; the only problem being is that it has to take them back to its perch and beat them against the side before it can eat them!
This is a remarkable bird, its hooked bill and flight being similar to those of eagles whereas its legs are more reminiscent of cranes. By day they usually forage in pairs, walking many kilometers and taking almost any mammal, reptile, bir dor insect that they can overpower. Agile prey, including snakes are usually dealt with quickly and efficiently through a flurry of kicks; if too large to be swallowed whole, they hold their prey with their feet and tear them apart with their bills...
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Animal Sightings | Bird Sightings | Flora Sightings
