Africa is home to a diverse array of bird species, many of which boast striking blue plumage. This article explores the fascinating world of African blue birds, focusing on the Blue Crane, African Blue Flycatcher, and Blue Waxbill. We will delve into their unique characteristics, habitats, behaviors, and conservation status.
The Blue Crane: South Africa's National Bird
The blue crane (Grus paradisea), also known as the Stanley crane and the paradise crane, is the national bird of South Africa. The blue crane is a tall bird that lives on the ground. It's one of the smaller members of the crane family and is pale blue-gray in color becoming darker on the upper head, neck and nape. From the crown to the lores, the plumage is distinctly lighter, sometimes whitish.
Physical Characteristics
These birds are usually about 100-120 cm (3 ft 3 in - 3 ft 11 in) tall, with a wingspan of 180-200 cm (5 ft 11 in - 6 ft 7 in), and weigh 3.6-6.2 kg (7.9-13.7 lb). The bill is ochre to greyish, with a pink tinge. One special thing about them is their long wingtip feathers that trail down to the ground. Unlike most cranes, they have a fairly large head and a thin neck. Young blue cranes look similar but are lighter in color.
Habitat and Distribution
Blue cranes love dry, grassy areas. They often live in pastures on hills, in valleys, and on plains where there are a few scattered trees. When it's time to nest, they like places that have both dry land and wetlands nearby. These cranes move to different heights depending on the season. They usually nest in lower grasslands, about 1,300 to 2,000 meters (4,200 to 6,500 feet) high. Then, they move to lower areas for the winter.
Of the 15 species of crane, the blue crane has the most restricted distribution of all. Even cranes with smaller populations can be found over a much wider area when they migrate. While it remains common in parts of its historic range, in the last two decades, the blue crane has largely disappeared from the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, and Eswatini. The population in the northern Free State, Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West Province has declined by up to 90%. The majority of the remaining population is in eastern and southern South Africa, with a small and separate population in the Etosha Pan of northern Namibia.
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Behavior and Diet
Blue cranes are partially social, but less so during their breeding season. In groups, there's a clear pecking order, with larger adult males being in charge. They live in the same areas as three other crane species, but we don't know much about how they interact with them. During nesting season, they can be very aggressive towards other animals. They might attack non-dangerous animals like cows, tortoises, plovers, and even sparrows. Humans are also attacked if they approach a nest too closely, with the aggressive male having torn clothes and drawn blood in such cases.
Blue cranes find their food on the ground. They don't seem to eat much near wetland areas. Most of their diet is made up of grasses and sedges. They eat many different types of these plants, depending on what's close to their nests. Sometimes, they add small animals to their diet. These can include crabs, snails, frogs, small lizards, and snakes.
Breeding
Blue cranes have a very specific breeding season. They usually lay eggs between October and March. Pairs start to form in groups around October, beginning with both potential parents running in circles with each other. Then, the male performs a "dance" where he throws things into the air and jumps. Eventually, a male and female from the group seem to choose each other, both joining in the dance, throwing objects and jumping.
Most of the time, blue cranes lay two eggs. Sometimes they lay one or three, but this is rare. Both the male and female take turns sitting on the eggs to keep them warm. The male often incubates at night. During the day, he usually guards the nest while the female incubates. The incubation stage lasts around 30 days. The young chicks can walk after just two days and can swim well very soon after that. Their mothers mostly feed them by bringing up food from their stomachs. The chicks learn to fly when they are about 3 to 5 months old. The parents continue to care for their young until the next breeding season.
Conservation Status
The South African government has stepped up legal protection for the blue crane. Other efforts to save them include research, managing their habitats, educating people, and getting help from private landowners.
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Even though about 26,000 blue cranes still exist, their population started to drop suddenly around 1980. In the last 20 years, blue cranes have mostly disappeared from the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Their numbers in the northern Free State, Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and North West Province have gone down by as much as 90%. Most of the remaining blue cranes live in eastern and southern South Africa. There's also a small group in the Etosha Pan in northern Namibia.
African Blue Flycatcher
The African blue flycatcher is a dainty, pale, bright blue flycatcher with a short crest and long tail. The entire upper parts and tail are bright blue, shading between blue and cyan, with black lores and black flight feathers edged with blue, the underparts are greyish blue fading to whitish on the belly. The bill and legs are black.
Two subspecies of the African blue flycatcher are currently recognised.
Blue Waxbill
The Blue Waxbill, a diminutive and vibrant bird, graces the southern African landscape with its presence. Males boast a striking powder-blue face, breast, rump, and flanks, while their upperparts are a more subdued pale brown. Females, though less vivid, share the blue rump, tail, head, and upper breast, with the remainder of their underparts a gentle buffy brown. To identify the Blue Waxbill, look for the male's bright blue plumage and the female's paler tones.
The Blue Waxbill is a versatile inhabitant, favoring well-watered and semi-arid savannas. This species is widespread in southern Africa, from Cabinda and the Congo to Kenya and Tanzania in the east, and southward to northern South Africa. Blue Waxbills are often seen in pairs or family parties, but they can also form larger flocks, sometimes mingling with other estrildid finches.
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Both sexes contribute to nest building, creating an oval-shaped structure with a side entrance tunnel, using grass stems and inflorescences, and lining it with feathers. Nests are often situated near wasp nests, although there is no evidence that wasps provide any protection against predators. Primarily seed eaters, Blue Waxbills forage for grass seeds directly from inflorescences.
Blue-bellied Roller
Blue-bellied rollers are native to western and central Africa, from Senegal to southern Sudan. They are social birds that typically gather in small groups of 3 to 7, sometimes more. They exhibit many social behaviors, including calling to each other, chasing each other, flying together, and defending territory together.
They have an interesting hunting style: they sit high in trees - about 30 feet up - and dive-bomb prey on the ground. They plummet toward the ground to snatch up prey, then return to the treetops. Mature blue-bellied rollers do not worry much about predation because they are agile flyers and can escape most predators with relative ease.
During courtship, male and female blue-bellied rollers chase each other in flight, rolling through the sky and calling loudly to each other. Details on breeding and nesting behavior are somewhat sketchy, so it is not entirely clear when and how males invest their parenting time. Reportedly, blue-bellied rollers are mostly monogamous but sometimes polygamous, which means that sometimes a male will choose to breed with more than one female. Females nest in tree holes, and particularly in hollow palm trees. They lay clutches of 2 to 3 eggs, and there is evidence that both males and females spend time incubating the eggs, although females spend more time on the nest than males. Whether or not males who breed with multiple females spend time incubating one or more clutches of eggs is unclear. Incubation lasts 22 to 24 days. While nesting, blue-bellied rollers are very territorial and will attack any other bird that attempts to approach.
Blue-bellied rollers are well-established across a wide range in Africa and are in no current danger of extinction.
Eurasian Blue Tit
“Blue tit” may refer to a few different species: the Eurasian blue tit, the African blue tit, or the azure tit. For the purpose of this article, the Eurasian blue tit will be the main subject, but the African blue tit and azure tit will be covered as well.
You can attract blue tits to your yard with a bird feeder, plenty of fresh water, and a nest box with a 1-inch hole. Blue tits often compete for food and nesting sites with the great tit, which they resemble. The blue tit is a yellow-breasted songbird with a loud singing voice and charismatic personality.
The scientific name of the Eurasian blue tit is Cyanistes caeruleus. Both words refer to its color. Cyanistes is derived from the Greek word kuanos, meaning dark blue. The species name caeruleus comes from a Latin word meaning dark blue or azure.
Blue tits belong to the Passeriformes order and the Paridae family, which includes titmice, chickadees, and other tits. The name tit in this case means something small.
Physical Characteristics
The blue tit is a small songbird with a plump, rounded body and a thin black beak. It is characterized by a yellowish white stomach and face, blue or gray wings and head cap, and a black stripe across the eyes. Males and females look very similar to each other, but juveniles tend to have a dull gray appearance instead. These birds typically measure about 5 inches from head to tail with a wingspan of around 7 inches.
Behavior
Blue tits congregate together in mixed flocks for the winter to roost and feed, and then they will branch off into smaller breeding pairs for the spring and early summer. Male blue tits create songs to defend their territory or attract mates. The song consists of a high-pitched trilling sound that can be heard for a long distance all around it. Both males and females make a variety of other sounds, including alarm calls when a predator is near.
Habitat and Distribution
The yellow-breasted Eurasian blue tit can be found across most of Europe and parts of Western Asia, whereas the African blue tit is endemic to Northern Africa. The azure tit is also native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Blue tits prefer deciduous or mixed woodlands with a particularly high number of oak trees in which to reside. The Eurasian blue tit can hang upside down from almost anything to access food like insects and spiders.
Diet
The blue tit is an omnivorous bird that spends a lot of time foraging on the ground or in trees. The blue tit primarily feeds on insects and spiders. They will supplement this with fruits and seeds in the winter.
Predators and Threats
Blue tits are primarily preyed upon by cats and sparrowhawks. Nests are also raided by squirrels and weasels in the spring. Due to predation and disease, most blue tits only live around three years. An unusually cold and wet spring or summer can also negatively affect population numbers by reducing the number of caterpillars available to eat.
Breeding and Nesting
The blue tit breeding season takes place every year between April and June. The male will attempt to attract a mate with his exuberant song. After choosing an appropriate nesting site in a tree hole, the female constructs the nest on her own from moss, feathers, and other soft materials. The male will trail close behind her to ensure that she does not mate with anyone else.
The mother will lay a single egg per day at around 6 AM until she reaches a full clutch of up to 10 eggs. The size of the entire clutch can easily exceed her own body weight. After the chicks hatch, both parents work tirelessly to provide them with all the food they need to grow. It’s estimated that up to 10,000 caterpillars are required to rear a single brood. It takes around three weeks for the chicks to fully fledge and start to leave the nest. This is the only brood that the parents will produce that year.
Blue tits are very common throughout their entire natural range. It’s estimated that there are some 3.3 to 3.4 million pairs of blue tits in the United Kingdom alone.
Conservation Status
According to the IUCN Red List, the Eurasian blue tit is considered to be a species of least concern. These birds might be affected by habitat loss in some places, but numbers mostly appear to be on the rise throughout their natural range.
The yellow-breasted Eurasian blue tit is estimated to have a total population of some 20 to 44 million pairs, and the numbers may be increasing. Because of its abundance, there are no special conservation programs devoted to this species.
