Birdlife in our village (3)

As indicated previously, during the next few months this blog will post information about the birdlife in our village. The text and photographs are supplied by one of our residents, Philip van den Berg (U34), who is an acclaimed environmentalist and wildlife photographer, provided the text and photographs.

This month we feature Babblers (Afr. Katlagters)

PHILIP VAN DEN BERG writes: There are five species of babblers in southern Africa, but South Africa has only two species, i.e. Arrow-marked Babblers (Afr. Pylvlekkatlagter) and Pied Babblers (Witkatlagters). Both these species occur in the Bela-Bela area.

An Arrow-marked Babbler

A Pied Babbler

Babblers are gregarious birds that form groups of up to ten birds consisting mainly of related individuals. Similar to other animals that live in social groups (e.g. African Wild Dog, Suricates and other social mongooses, Green Wood Hoopoe and Southern Black Tits) Babblers have an alpha male and female that are responsible for breeding while the other members of the group help with chores such as nest building and rearing of young. Cooperative breeders are more successful than if pairs attempt to breed on their own, and at the same time the genes of the individual are propagated.

Pied Babblers have similar habits but prefer more arid areas. They can be seen in thornveld close to our village, but will probably not be regular visitors.

Arrow-marked Babblers are common and widespread in bushveld areas, and are common residents in our village. They are very noisy birds that forage in groups lower down in trees and shrubs. As it is the case with social animals their calls serve to remain in contact with each other. They prey on a variety of smaller animals and also take fruit and nectar. Also, Arrow-marked Babblers get involved in allopreening to strengthen bonds.

Arrow-marked Babblers getting involved in allopreening

Levaillant’s Cuckoos (Afr. Lavaillant-koekoeke) are very host-specific breeding parasites and often deposit their eggs in Babbler’s nests. In the 2016/2017 breeding season a Levaillant’s chick was reared by a group of Arrow-marked Babblers in our village.

This Levaillant's Cuckoo chick was raised by Arrow-marked Babblers in our village in 2017

By the way, our Boer ancestors nicknamed the Maxim machine gun used by British forces in the Second Anglo-Boer War, the "Katlagter" due to the machine gun like cackling sounds made by Babblers.

The Boers nicknamed the Maxim machine gun "Katlagter". It was used by British forces in the Second Anglo-Boer War