Bulletin 325 - South Africa #2 - Part 2 - Weavers, Bishops and Widowbirds; Croc and Hippo

Continued from Part 1

The bishops and widowbirds are all the same genus. The males are usually black and the females non-descript sparrow-like streaked brown birds.

The 4.5" male Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix) is all red except the face and underparts.

Southern Red Bishop - male

The 6" male Yellow Bishop (Euplectes capensis) is all black except for a yellow rump and shoulder patch.

Yellow Bishop - male

The male widowbirds are mostly black with a long fancy tail. The 6" male Fan-tailed Widowbird (Euplectes axillaris) has the shortest tail of the 3 species I photographed.

Fan-tailed Widowbird - male

Next is the 10" male Red-collared Widowbird (Euplectes ardens). He is all black with a red collar on the front of his throat.

Red-collared Widowbird  - male

And finally, the prize goes to the 24" male Long-tailed Widowbird (Euplectes progne). He is all black with a red shoulder patch and an amazing tail. He reminds me of a Red-winged Blackbird but for the tail.

Long-tailed Widowbird - male

He flies up and flutters his tail to attract a female. Here is another photo.

Long-tailed Widowbird - male

South Africa is a pretty dry country and before the rainy season in their summer, many rivers have dried up. So any permanent water attracts lots critters including the most dangerous animals in Africa. There is a large estuary at St Lucia on the Indian Ocean coast, in fact, it is the largest river estuary in all of the continent. We had a boat ride to see wildlife there.

The Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is the second largest croc in the world with males averaging up to 16' in length and 1600 pounds weight. They eat any kind of flesh including mammals, birds, fish and other reptiles. Wikipedia says they  are responsible for 'hundreds of human deaths' annually.

Nile Crocodile

The other may be the worlds most dangerous mammal with estimates of up to 500 human deaths annually in Africa. The of course is the huge Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius). They average about 3000 pounds in weight and despite their size, they can run at up to 19mph over short distances. They are highly aggressive and unpredictable and have attacked tourist boats, capsizing them. 

During the day they mostly stay submerged in the water to stay cool.

Common Hippopotamus

Occasionally we saw birds landing on their backs. Here is a Spotted Sandpiper and another time we saw a large Gray Heron.

Common Hippopotamus and Spotted Sandpiper

They are herbivores and eat mostly short grasses and can eat 150 pounds grass daily. This one was eating some reeds along the bank of the estuary.

Common Hippopotamus

What makes hippos so dangerous is that they come onto land at night to browse on short grass. They make travel up to 6 miles from the lake or waterway to find the food and may come across humans on the way. At our B&B in St Lucia, they posted a warning sign to beware of hippos at night as we saw hoof prints in the gravel parking lot.

One night after supper in town, we found several  hippos in a city park.

 Common Hippos at night

What makes them so deadly are the huge tusks, as well as their immense size. The lower tusks are 8" long and a hippo bite to the chest or abdomen would lacerate many internal organs.

Common Hippopotamus skull

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 14 of the 113 species of weavers and widowbirds

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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