There are many good reasons to go on a private game reserve instead of going to large public parks such as the National Kruger Park (and don’t get me wrong, the Kruger is also great in its own right!), and one of them is that one can go off-road if there is a terrific sighting, and one can enjoy these sightings in peace and calm on our reserve. A good example would be a super rare sighting of a Southern Ground Hornbill, one of the rarest birds in South Africa, and a very peculiar one at it. This is a large bird, it is the largest of the Hornbill family, and measures easily over a 1m in length.
The Southern Ground Hornbill lives very long, over 60 years, and they are famous for their low fertility levels. They raise only one chick at a time, and that can take 2 years. Plus the previous “generation” helps with the rearing of the latest addition, in order to acquire the required skills of offspring rearing. Without this “school” (and studies show that they need at least 6 years of such schooling), they have been found to be incapable of doing so. So they are smart, and they lead a very distinct kind of complex social life. They stay together as couples for life, and only lay an egg in perfect conditions, and those conditions have become rare. So as a consequence, the bird has also become rare.
We have 2 successful couples on the reserve, and we see them now and then. And every time one does, it’s such a joy. We did see them yesterday, with the male showing off his beautiful white wing feathers. Here the photos that Uyai took. Enjoy!
