South African Lowveld

This veritable Noah's Ark of wildlife, the region boasts the largest privately owned game area in the world, extending without fences into the renowned Kruger National Park.

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One of Africa's premier and most accessible birding destinations is closer than you may think. It is no secret that the Central Lowveld of north-eastern South Africa is home to one of the greatest concentrations of numbers and species of wild mammals on Earth. Because of this veritable Noah's Ark of wildlife, the region boasts the largest privately owned game area in the world, extending without fences into the renowned Kruger National Park. Less well known is the fact that 579 species - more than half of the over 900 species of birds known to occur in southern Africa (south of the Kunene and Zambezi rivers) - can also be found here. There can be few, if any, other places where you can hear (and, with luck, see) nine different robins within walking distance of a single locality, or where you could hope to find 56 different species of diurnal raptors within a 30-kilometre radius.

The western boundary of the Lowveld is a spectacularly beautiful escarpment formed by the northern part of the Drakensberg mountain range. Not as high or as cold or as relatively barren as the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg adjoining Lesotho, this section of the range augments the Lowveld plains avifauna with its own subset of specialized Afromontane birds. Some, like the Bokmakierie, seem to be aimless rare vagrants into a plethora of various shrikes; others, such as the Cape Robin, are proper altitudinal migrants, while nectarivores like Gurney's Sugarbird and the Malachite Sunbird seem to make descents of as much as 1 000 metres in food-searching patterns.

The Central Lowveld is drained by various rivers flowing towards the Indian Ocean. Apart from the deep Blyde Dam, there are no major impoundments or other large waterbodies. All eight of the region's stork species occur here, yet oddly, those usually associated with water tend to be the species most often seen. Although large herons such as the Goliath, Grey and Black-headed occur, medium-sized to small herons predominate, including some of the rarest species, such as the Rufous-bellied and White-backed Night herons. In general, small impoundments are visited by Dwarf and Little bitterns and Green-backed Heron. Waterfowl, conversely, tend to be larger species like Knob-billed Duck, and Spur-winged and Egyptian geese, although smaller species such as White-faced and African Black ducks are often seen. Waders are relatively uncommon, with Common Greenshank, and Wood and Common sandpipers most often sighted and Greater Painted Snipe not unusual.

Despite the comparative paucity of aquatic habitats, some of southern Africa's rarest waterbirds occur in the Central Lowveld. The fascinating African Finfoot breeds here and is regularly seen. And the attractive and vociferous White-crowned Plover still fulfils its age-old function of warning crocodiles of intruders.

The region's most sought-after and rarest owl, Pel's Fishing Owl, is also a breeding resident, although not commonly encountered. This nocturnal fisher poses an intriguing question: if the African Fish Eagle and Pel's Fishing Owl feed on similar kinds of widely available fish captured in the same way, why is the fish eagle so widespread, while the fishing owl is so restricted to perennial waters in hot climates? The answer is simple: over much of the fish eagle's range the fishing owl would probably freeze to death in winter, as it is unable to dry out after plunging into such cold waters to fish at night.

Although birds of prey are undergoing an alarming poison-induced decline, a wide species spectrum still exists in the Central Lowveld. The recent sighting of an Egyptian Vulture brought the tally of diurnal raptors observed within 30 kilometres of Mariepskop to an incredible 56 species, with an additional three species recorded in the Central Lowveld nearby. From the largest raptors, the Martial and Black eagles, and the most powerful, the Crowned Eagle, to the diminutive Little Sparrowhawk, this local multitude of birds of prey is in keeping with the wealth of mammals and other prey species found in the Central Lowveld. Similarly, all 12 southern African owls are present here, with the African Grass Owl possibly rarest due to restricted suitable habitat.

Other bird groups in the Lowveld can muster almost complete complements of southern African species, including the enigmatic cuckoos. The seldom-seen Thick-billed Cuckoo is here, along with its Red-billed Helmetshrike host. Emerald and Klaas's cuckoos are present throughout the year on the wooded slopes of Mariepskop, and apparently even the Lesser and/or Madagascar cuckoos are present, though this issue is still confused. The Barred Cuckoo is unlikely to come this far south, and alleged sightings may involve the rare rufous phase of the European Cuckoo. Doves are also well represented, the local list including Delegorgue's Pigeon and even a single record of a European Turtle Dove, which probably overshot the still largely unknown winter quarters of the millions of this species which annually migrate southward into Africa. Only the Blue-spotted Dove remains to be recorded here, if one rightly excludes the so-called Feral Pigeon as a wild bird. Kingfishers are represented by 10 of the 11 southern African species, lacking only the coastal Mangrove Kingfisher. Despite a heavy toll taken by motor vehicles, nightjars still abound in the Central Lowveld, with six of seven species present, lacking the Natal Nightjar but including the spectacular Pennant-winged.

Birding, now recognized as the most popular form of outdoor recreation in the world, is not realizing its full potential in the Lowveld. One reason for this is a lack of awareness among local birdwatchers. For example, experienced observers like Murrie Slotar have observed the Three-banded Courser several times in the Punda area, but recently a Big Birding Day team recorded it near Nelspruit. What about the intervening area?

The Golden-rumped Tinker Barbet was previously only known (in the old Transvaal) from the Crocodile River near Nelspruit. Relatively recently I recorded it at Mariepskop, and it is now known to be a breeding resident along the escarpment, probably as far as the Soutpansberg. The first South African record of the Mashona Hyliota was made relatively recently when a competent birder photographed it nesting in Punda Maria camp in the Kruger National Park! There are numerous other examples of species being overlooked, especially migrant LBJs. How many of these 'difficult' Palaearctic warblers are not being identified in the Lowveld?

The historic change of status of the showy White-winged Flufftail provides the classic example of what awareness among birders can achieve. We rediscovered this species south of the equator in 1976 when a freshly dead female was found under powerlines in the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. We published a photograph of it mounted to show the rather obvious white wing-panels, and drawing attention to the lack of accepted records of its occurrence since 1901, apart from a few specimens collected in Ethiopia. We rejected the possibility of this species being a rare migrant to South Africa from Ethiopia, suggesting instead that it was 'presumably an overlooked South African breeding resident', despite there being previously only four specimens from south of the equator. We called for further research on this flufftail and hoped that our rediscovery would 'stimulate interest in this fascinating species'. Birders responded to the challenge. Aware of the possibilities (and of the diagnostic wing-panels), they started to find White-winged Flufftails and these birds continue to be found in fair numbers at more and more localities.

Buff-spotted Flufftails are the most commonly recorded of the three flufftail species in the Central Lowveld. They are often heard and seen on the lower slopes of Mariepskop in a forested kloof with a running stream. Higher up in this kloof, in a fairly open sponge under climax forest, I and other observers have on several recent occasions been delighted to hear the unmistakable short hoots of the Striped Flufftail. The third species is the Red-chested Flufftail, a male of which died when it crashed into a house 10 kilometres north-north-west of Mariepskop.

Apart from the necessity for increased awareness by birders, there is a great need for suitable birdwatching facilities in the Lowveld. South African National Parks could take a lead here by providing small, quiet camps with walking areas, mainly for birdwatchers, in the remote Pafuri area of the Kruger National Park. This is the best individual area for rare birds within the boundaries of the park. If well sited with reasonable facilities and complemented with short walking trails, such small camps would be fully booked by enthusiastic birders. Safe guiding of such small groups would be a simple logistical exercise.

The Lowveld has many excellent game lodges, such as the luxurious ones in the Sabi Sand and Tshukudu near Hoedspruit. The majority of lodges, however, cater for the 'big and hairy' syndrome, so birdwatching still takes a poor second place to mammal-watching, despite there being, in comparison with birds, so few viewable mammal species. The marketplace should become more aware of the popularity of birding, and appropriate facilities should be provided in the big game areas for primary birdwatching by small birding groups, with augmentary viewing of mammals, reptiles, and so on, as a bonus. Obviously great care has to be taken with guests in big game country because any incidents resulting from too-close encounters would be unacceptable.

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Names of birds mentioned in the text,
listed in the order in which they occur
Bokmakierie Telophorus zeylonus
Cape Robin Cossypha caffra
Gurney's Sugarbird Promerops gurneyi
Malachite Sunbird Nectarinia famosa
Goliath Heron Ardea goliath
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala
Rufous-bellied Heron Ardeola rufiventris
White-backed Night Heron Gorsachius leuconotus
Dwarf Bittern Ixobrychus sturmii
Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus
Green-backed Heron Butorides striatus
Knob-billed Duck Sarkidiornis melanotos
Spur-winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis
Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiacus
White-faced Duck Dendrocygna viduata
African Black Duck Anas sparsa
Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola
Common Sandpiper Tringa hypoleucos
Greater Painted Snipe Rostratula benghalensis
African Finfoot Podica senegalensis
White-crowned Plover Vanellus albiceps
Pel's Fishing Owl Scotopelia peli
African Fish Eagle Haliaeetus vocifer
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus
Martial Eagle Polemaetus bellicosus
Black Eagle Aquila verreauxii
Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus
Little Sparrowhawk Accipiter minullus
African Grass Owl Tyto capensis
Thick-billed Cuckoo Pachycoccyx audeberti
Red-billed Helmetshrike Prionops retzii
Emerald Cuckoo Chrysococcyx cupreus
Klaas's Cuckoo Chrysococcyx klaas
Lesser Cuckoo Cuculus poliocephalus
Madagascar Cuckoo Cuculus rochii
Barred Cuckoo Cercococcyx montanus
European Cuckoo Cuculus canorus
Delegorgue's Pigeon Columba delegorguei
European Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur
Blue-spotted Dove Turtur afer
Feral Pigeon Columba livia
Mangrove Kingfisher Halcyon senegaloides
Natal Nightjar Caprimulgus natalensis
Pennant-winged Nightjar Macrodipteryx vexillarius
Three-banded Courser Rhinoptilus cinctus
Golden-rumped Tinker Barbet Pogoniulus bilineatus
Mashona Hyliota Hyliota australis
White-winged Flufftail Sarothrura ayresi
Buff-spotted Flufftail Sarothrura elegans
Striped Flufftail Sarothrura affinis
Red-chested Flufftail Sarothrura rufa