Africa is the second largest continent in the world after Asia and is home to a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity. Birdlife is mind-blowing – you can find just under 2,500 of the world’s bird species there. We begin a series of articles focusing on Africa’s birds by starting at the bottom, in South Africa, and meet just a handful of the diverse birds you can find there.
If you were to look for bird guides for South Africa, you would struggle to choose just one, such is the richness of offerings. This country has the highest number of endemic and near-endemic species of birds on the whole continent, and Owen has visited no less than ten birding sites and lodges in pursuit of his ongoing passion for bird photography.
Also known as the Stanley crane and paradise crane, this shimmering blue-gray beauty stands at just over a mater tall, and they are of deep cultural significance to the ethnic groups in the country. Granted national bird status, its image features on the Isithwalandwe Award, the highest award given by the African National Congress to those who resisted the apartheid regime. Their tail feathers were presented to warriors who distinguished themselves in battle, indicating their military might and honor. Isithwalandwe means, one who wears the plumes of the rare bird.
Those plumes are no longer taken, of course, but Blue cranes are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, suffering sudden declines of up to 90% across their historical range by the 1980s. This is largely due to human population growth, converting grasslands into commercial tree plantations, and from both deliberate (to protect crops) and accidental (crop-dusting) poisoning. However, the government is taking several conservation and educational measures to increase their protection and they are one of the species featured in the United Nation’s Environment Program’s Convention on Migratory Species. Owen photographed this one on a trip to the country’s West Coast National Park in 2015.
Observed on that same trip, Bokmakierie are a type of bushshrike endemic to South Africa. Easily identified by a bright yellow chest and broad black bib and collar that extends up both sides of the neck to the eyes, you can also recognize these birds by their call, bok-bok-mak-kik, which is often accompanied by a loud series of repeated whistle phrases.
Unlike true shrikes who are renowned for their prominent perching hunting technique, these birds can be quite shy and skulk through karoo scrub seeking out insects, frogs, small lizards and snakes, and even small birds, and is itself the preferred prey of larger snakes and shrikes such as the northern fiscal. They are classed as Least Concern, although one of its four subspecies, Telophorus zeylonus restrictus, currently numbers only about 400 birds.
Of all the names an animal can have to give you an idea of what you are dealing with, the Goliath heron surely ranks high among them. High being the operative word – this is the world’s largest living heron. A fully grown adult male stands at a meter and a half, has a wingspan of 2 meters and weighs 4.5kg. Owen photographed this one on a trip to the Zimanga Game Reserve in 2015, a beautifully designed reserve featuring a lagoon where observers can watch large water birds. The water- and soundproof hides have been built mostly underground and are covered in one-way glass, the perfect set-up for professional and amateur photographers alike.
With their streaked markings and coloring, they mostly resemble purple herons, although at twice the size. Their call is a distinctive and far-reaching ‘kowoork,’ that can carry up to 2km away. The efficiency of that robust daggerlike bill cannot be overstated, as they stalk through marshes, estuaries and mangroves hunting for large fish like bream and mullet, as well as sizeable snakes and small mammals. They are truly formidable.
Yes, you read that right – penguin. Most of us know that penguins inhabit the frozen wastes of the Antarctic, but there is one species that is believed to have come to southern Africa during a cooler climate period around 2-3 million years ago from the shores of Australasia. Sometimes referred to as Jackass penguins because of their guttural, braying call, these stocky and resilient 60-70cm tall flightless birds exhibit the perfect camouflage for their waterborne hunting prowess – the white belly makes them indistinguishable from the African sun above, and the black streaks help blend into the rocky coastline terrain, hidden from predators above. However, this cunning natural disguise has not helped the African penguin stay safe from us – highly prized for their meat and guano for fertilizer, their population has suffered a 95% loss since pre-industrial times, and they are classed as Endangered. As of 2023 the IUCN counted 20,000 individual birds, a drop from over a million breeding pairs just 100 years ago. Increased fishing pressures and climate change are seeing those numbers decline, but conservation efforts continue despite the odds. You can find out more about these endearing birds here and there is an International African Penguin Day every second Saturday in October which aims to increase awareness of their plight.
