Blue Korhaan R234 as seen and photographed by Lynden Lund

Feeding next to the N6 on the way from Smithfield to Rouxville, or in other grassland areas and cultivated lands, or sometimes even proudly perched on the top of an anthill, you can easily identify these beautiful birds. They are medium to large sized with rich brown upperparts, entirely grey-blue underparts, and black head with large white facial patch.

Slow down, or stop near to them, and they will be gone in an instant. Flying quite a distance, or slinking away with head held low to the ground, they blend so cleverly into the surroundings that even the trained eye may miss them.

Their deep mellow 3-syllable croak kuk-ka-ROW, (sounding very much like “knock-me-down” or “vat-my-kierie”) repeated up to 15 times, usually in duet, always stops me in my tracks. Then I scan around avidly searching for the source of another beautiful melody of nature. Blue Korhaans spend most of the day searching for their favourite food consisting of insects, small lizards, seeds and other plant material.

This near-threatened bird is endemic to our area, and is included in the twice-a-year national count of the Korhaans, Secretary Birds, and other large birds, undertaken in this area by myself and other participating birders.

Do you regularly have interesting birds on your property that I can photograph and include in this column? Please contact me on cell 083 263 0613.