Tag: eye

Camouflage

Giraffes are fairly social animals and get together in herds from time to time. However, there is no group bonding. Because of their very long necks, Giraffes are able to feed on the foliage of trees that is not accessible to other herbivores. The long prehensile tongue is used to pull pods and leaves into the mouth which are then stripped from the stems with the spatulate incisor teeth. Their skin colour is tan with light brown patches on females and dark brown patches on males. Both males and females have short horns covered in skin.

Camouflage

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Concentric

The red-knobbed coot is an omnivore and will take a variety of small live prey including the eggs of other water birds. Its main food in most waters, however, comprises various waterweeds for which it commonly dives. Where it is disturbed it is likely to bully any intruder, even large birds such as Egyptian geese, if they do not defy its challenges. It can be seen swimming on open water or walking across waterside grasslands. It is an aggressive species and strongly territorial during the breeding season.

Concentric

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Illusive

The Burchell’s Coucal is more often heard than seen. Its call, which is a cascade of bubbling notes, usually emanates from the deep undergrowth, the habitat that this species prefers. It mainly calls in the morning, but it will also call throughout the day and even on moonlit nights. It is sometimes called the Rainbird because it calls before, during and after rains. This Coucal occurs in most of South Africa, except the arid west. It is common on the Highveld. It is found in thickets, reed-beds, coastal bush, along rivers, and in vleis. It clambers around thick vegetation, seldom flying. When it does fly, it makes a beeline between patches of the thick vegetation it prefers to inhabit. It may also run on the ground between the habitat patches, even crossing roads. It is not the most agile and graceful of birds!

Illusive

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