BirdlifeAll the Chobe's summer visitors and residents have returned by the end of November. The very characteristic calls of the woodlands kingfishers are ringing out from everywhere in the bush, as are those of Klaas's cuckoo, Diedericks' cuckoo, and the "I'm so sick" call of the black cuckoo. These calls are so abundant during the summer months that one hardly notices them but they are sorely missed in winter time.
Klaas's cuckoo was named after a Khoi-Khoi servant of the French explorer Francois Levaillant. Levaillant came to the Cape in 1781 in the service of the Dutch East India Company. All cuckoo species in southern Africa are brood parasites and normally target species like weavers and starlings. Their eggs typically have a much shorter incubation period than the host species giving the chicks a head start over the chicks of the host which will often be killed by the cuckoo chick.
Steppe buzzards are surprisingly abundant this year. They are Palearctic migrants and as their name implies they travel all the way from the steppes of Europe and Asia in the northern hemisphere to spend their summers in the southern parts of Africa. They typically hunt from perches like dead tree tops and often while hovering as well. |
