Tag: brown

Basking

The African darter, also known as the snakebird or, slanghals in Afrikaans, is a water-bird that is common throughout sub-Saharan African. It has earned the name snakebird for the way that it swims – it keeps its entire body very low in the water, with only the neck and the head sticking out, giving it the appearance of a swimming snake. The male darter’s body is almost completely glossy black with the exception of the white streaking on the face and body, and the colouration of the neck, which has a warm chestnut hue. The female (like the juvenile birds) is browner than the male with less noticeable white streaks. Both of them have gold-coloured eyes with brown bills. The male’s bill is slightly larger than the female’s. This bill is used to impale fish and is, as a result, strong and sharply pointed. As a water-bird, the African darter can be found around fresh and brackish waters that are surrounded by (or close to) fresh vegetation. Shallow lakes and slow-flowing rivers that are flanked by trees, mangroves and reeds are ideal. They will also be found around swamps, lagoons, and reservoirs, but will avoid marine habitats, generally speaking. They need trees or bushes for their roosting.
Info source: https://www.sa-venues.com/wildlife/birds_african_darter.php
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The photo was taken during September 2017 at Lake Panic Bird Hide, Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Basking

Picture of the day, Wildlife

Annoyed

The greater kudu of South Africa has tawny-brown to grey-brown coats with distinctive white stripes running down on its flanks. They have a white V-shaped band across the eyes and forehead with white spots on their cheeks. There are strong physical differences between males and females. The males grow long, spiral horns that can reach up to 1,8 m in length. The kudu bull’s horns reach full length at the age of six years old, and males are significantly larger than females. Bulls can weigh as much as 300 kg with a shoulder height of 1.4 m and cows weigh 210 kg with a shoulder height of 1.25 m. Kudu have long manes of hair that run on its back from head to tail and along the lower neck to the underbelly. The kudu is a browser and feeds on a variety of leaves of trees and shrubs indigenous to South Africa. It also feeds on various fruits, pods, forbs and creepers during different seasons. The kudu is also known to eat South African succulents such as spekboom and aloes. For male kudu, the rutting season occurs between April and May in South Africa. Newborn calves aged 4-6 weeks old are hidden away and nursed by their mothers who visit. Female kudus and their offspring form small groups of four to ten. Breeding throughout the year is not uncommon. A kudu herd tends to split up into two sub-groups. Young females remain with their mothers, while sexually mature males around the age of two years old form bachelor groups. Kudu males will join the female herds during mating season. No territorial spacing exists amongst bulls, but as they show age in their physical appearance, they have size-graded dominant hierarchies.
Info source: http://southafrica.co.za/kudu.html
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The photo was taken during September 2017 near Lower Sabie, Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Annoyed

Picture of the day, Wildlife

Unison

With a weight of 6 tons and a height that can reach 3.3 m to the shoulder, the elephant is the largest land animal in the world. Tusks of 90 kg have been recorded, but tusks of older bulls generally weigh 50 to 60 kg. Elephants can live as long as 70 years. With as many as 50 000 muscles, the elephant’s trunk is very sensitive. It is essentially a modified nose, able to detect water underground. Using the finger-like appendages at the tip of the trunk, elephants can pick the smallest flowers and twigs, pick a thorn from their feet and pull out strong reeds or grass. There is a common misunderstanding that the joints between the elephant’s feet and body are its knees. They are, in fact, its wrists. Elephants’ foot bones and hand bones are one and the same and have evolved to suit this four-legged mammal. An elephant’s tusks are actually its upper incisors, growing continuously until the elephant dies at about 60 years of age. They use their tusks for obtaining food, self-defence, and males use it for fighting. An elephant’s skin is about 3 cm thick, although it is rather sensitive. Elephants eat great quantities, and in a day can consume up to 272 kg (600 pounds) of tender shoots, grass and tree bark, drinking up to 200 litres of water in a single session. One elephant deposits about 150 kg (330 pounds) of dung per day, and drops a dollop every 15 minutes.
Info source: http://southafrica.co.za/elephant.html
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The photo was taken during September 2017 at Lake Panic Bird Hide, Kruger National Park Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Unison

Picture of the day, Wildlife