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STORKS  AND  OTHER  LARGE  BIRDS - Dave Rushworth

Over six hundred species of birds have so far been recorded in the central lowveld area around Hoedspruit. Around 80% of all the raptor species recorded in South Africa are resident or migrants to or through this area. Apart from the big vultures and eagles the largest and most striking birds are found among the groups of Bustards, Cranes, Storks and Herons.

 

Well known but increasingly scarce, is the Kori (or Giant) Bustard. The smaller Stanley's Bustard occurred on top of the escarpment in the California area before 'toilet town' was constructed and still clings to threatened existence in a few remaining wild areas up there. The Secretary Bird, commonly seen a few years ago, is now a rarity.  All three of our indigenous crane species can still occasionally be seen in the Steenkampsberg area near Lydenburg. The Blue Crane and the Wattled Crane are confined to the highveld in this part of South Africa but the Crowned Crane can be seen seasonally in wetter areas of the lowveld.

Storks and Herons.

 

The large, long-legged birds most commonly seen in the lowveld belong to the Storks and Herons.  Storks fly with their necks straight out while Herons fly with their heads withdrawn on 'S' shaped necks.

 

The largest of the herons - the Goliath Heron - is confined to our big rivers and water bodies where there is abundant vegetation. Second in size, in the same but often more open habitat, is the Grey Heron, while the very similar Black-headed Heron prefers dry, open lands. The latter is more common on the highveld but often seen in some lowveld areas. There are other smaller species to be seen.

The largest of our Storks, and the most striking in adult plumage, is the Saddlebilled Stork. Like most of our large birds, this species is becoming increasingly rare in wet habitats.  Second in size is the Marabou Stork, which, being a cosmopolitan feeder, seems to thrive on animal remains and human garbage. They can inevitably be seen around the town refuse dump and at the Moholoholo 'vulture restaurant' in good numbers.  In the Kruger National Park they are most frequently seen in the vicinity of 'kills' and around sources of offal. An interesting feature of this species is that it defecates down its legs, presumably as a cooling mechanism, and therefor 'white-washes' the perch in which it is standing.  This makes it easy to identify their perches apart from those used by other large birds and may be an indication, to others of their species, of suitable landing sites. The mainly white Yellowbilled, the black Openbilled and the black with white neck Woollynecked Storks are other large species which can be seen near water bodies. Most are specialised feeders and have seasonal movements dependant on the best feeding areas.  The relatively small, brown Hammerkop, which is often seen 'patrolling' for road-kills and around water bodies, is a specialised species that is related to the storks.

A resident, but increasingly rare species is the Black Stork (Ciconia nigra), which is most often seen around shallow streams and water bodies.  It is normally a cliff nester on the escarpment and isolated kopjies. This species normally occurs solitary or in pairs and can be identified by its black plumage with white belly and red legs and bill.  On occasions one may see small groups of Black Storks around communal breeding sites but they are not birds that 'flock' like the next two species.

Flocking migrants.

Two well known migrant species are the Abdim's or Whitebellied Stork (Ciconia abdimii) and the White or European Stork (Ciconia ciconia), both of which normally occur in large flocks.  

 

The Abdim's Stork is similar in plumage colour to the Black Stork but is considerably smaller and has 'horn' coloured legs and bill with bluish bare skin on the face and reddish 'toes' and 'ankle' joints.

The White Stork is a white bird with black primary and secondary wing feathers.  It has red legs and bill like the Black Stork to which it is similar in size.

 

In the tropics, stimulated by the southerly movement of the inter tropical convergence zone (ITCZ), the arrival of large flocks of Abdim's Storks was a welcome sign of the 'rainy season'.  Shortly after the rains had started the White Storks would appear in large numbers.  This phenomena is sadly diminishing and is now something of a notable but still welcome sight.

The Abdim's Storks are inter-African migrants and move down to us from mainly West Africa, where they breed, like most other storks, in stick nests in trees.  In their breeding area they often hang around villages and towns which offer opportune sources of food  to augment their normal insectivorous diet.  On migration they flock in large numbers and are voracious feeders on 'insect' swarms.

The White Storks are migrants from Europe, where they breed very often on human constructions, returning year after year to the same nest site.  For many years some pairs have remained in the Cape where they have been recorded breeding. White Storks normally move south to escape the northern winter and arrive in South Africa around September. In large flocks, they also feed on agricultural pests and outbreaks of 'insects', devouring huge quantities and helping to maintain a natural balance.

Both the Abdim's and White Storks provide an invaluable service to agriculture.  Because of their feeding habits they are very susceptible to thoughtless agricultural poisoning and this is one of the main reasons for a decline in their numbers.  One doesn't expect any farmer to sit and watch his crops being destroyed by pests just to satisfy the storks but it would be more ecologically friendly to allow the birds to do their best for a few days and then put guards to patrol the sprayed area until the food source dries up and is no longer attractive to the birds.  Further north in Africa, where pesticides are not such a threat, the destruction of breeding habitat is another cause for declining numbers.  The birds are not very good to eat so they are not generally shot except in cases of ignorant vandalism.  

 

Whatever the causes, the numbers of both Abdim's and White Storks are rapidly diminishing and, especially with the latter, give great cause for concern in their European breeding areas.  Many of the deaths take place in their migration areas and it is up to us in southern Africa to do our best to protect these useful birds.

 

All species of Storks, Herons, Cranes and Bustards are protected by law in all provinces of South Africa.

 

In this season of erratic rainfall it has been most encouraging to see a good number of large flocks of Abdim's Storks in our area and to note so many gatherings of White Storks.  They are soon to return to their northern breeding area but may 'sense' that there is a long and severe winter up there and stay a little longer.  There have been very large numbers of White Storks reported south of Setara in the Kruger National Park and this may be due to a mass breeding of armoured crickets.  A few years ago, around the Timbavati loop and across to Nwanedzi the Marabous did a similar job.  These birds are here to help us.  

 

There have been good numbers of both species of storks to be seen on Piet Potgieter's sweet corn lands on Grovedale.  I always enjoy seeing the 'indicator' bird species as I pass this area - Long Crested Eagles, Black-shouldered Kites, Goshawks, Black-breasted Snake Eagles, duck species and others - all useful species, the presence of which indicate the intelligent use of pesticides.  I know of other farmers in the same category, who sustain good bird populations.   It would be beneficial for tourism in this area if many others would follow their example.  Live and let live and keep the lowveld environment around Hoedspruit healthy, vibrant and exciting for all.