Little Crake – Porzana parva – at Covelly wetlands, Western
Cape, South
Africa.
Franklin’s Gull –
Larus pipixcan - Strandfontein
26/3/2012
The Little
Crake - Porzana parva – breeds in Europe, mainly Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It winters in north east Africa and parts
of West Africa.
Description
Male has
blue-grey face and underparts, with narrow white bars on rear flanks and black
and white barring on undertail-coverts. Female has blue-grey replaced by buff
except for pale ash grey lupercilium, lores and cheeks, and whitish chin and
throat. They have a short straight yellow bill, with a red base. The legs are
green with long toes, and a short tail which is barred black and white
underneath. The chicks are downy black.
Call
Contact calls
include soft, rhythmic tapping and a yapping kua call. Alarm call is a sharp
"Tyicuk".
Food
Food consists
mainly of insects, especially water beetles and also Hemiptera, Neuroptera, and
adult and larval Diptera, and also seeds and aquatic plants, worms, gastropods,
spiders and water mites.
Breeding
Breeds from May
to August. Monogamous and territorial, pair-bond maintained only during
breeding season. Nest a shallow, made of plant stems and leaves, placed in
thick vegetation near or over water, often raised on tussock or platform of
dead material. Between 4 and 9 eggs are laid. The incubation period is between
21 to 23 days.
Conservation Status – Least Concern
This species has
a large range, with an estimated global population between 100,000-1,000,000
individuals.
Birdwatching
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create a custom tour for you.
Photographed by John Tinkler
of Aperture Wild Photographic and Viewing Safaris.
Franklin’s Gull –
Larus pipixcan - Strandfontein
Franklin’s Gull –
Larus pipixcan – is a
small, black-headed gull of North America. It
is common in the interior and migrates in winter to the Caribbean and South America.
Description
The body is white
and its back and wings are dark grey. The wings have black tips with an
adjacent white band. The bill and legs are red. The entire head is black in the
breeding season. Young birds are similar to the adult but have less developed
hoods.
Call
Calls nasal and
laughing.
Food
Insects, earthworms,
fish, mice, garbage, seeds.
Breeding
They breed in
colonies, nesting primarily along lakes and marshes in North
America. The nest constructed on the ground, or floating on water.
They lay 1 to 4 greenish brown eggs which are incubated for about three weeks.
Conservation Status – Least concern
The Franklin's Gull depends
on extensive prairie marshes for breeding, and entire colonies may shift sites
from year to year depending on water levels. Once threatened by habitat loss
due to large-scale drainage projects and the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s, this
species has regained numbers with the creation of large wetlands, mainly on
protected national wildlife refuges. Colony shifts continue to occur, however,
influenced by drought and fluctuating water levels. Populations appear to be
increasing.
Birdwatching
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create a custom tour for you.