Crowned Plover. |
Beach
House. Kommetjie. |
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Vanellus coronatus. |
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A
Crowned Plover pair has been visiting the dune immediately in front of the Beach House for the past 3 years. They arrive in the mornings, feed on
the dune where the soil is wet from the irrigation and then leave when
activity starts as dogs and man wake up and invade their space. In March 2001 the family was 3 for the first time with a shy youngster accompanied his parents. When the crowned plovers leave they fly past Klein Slangkop to the Wildevoelvlei. They don't sleep or breed on the dunes at the Beach House but visit virtually everyday. |
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male (above) is on the dune just to the left of the path to the beach
while the female (right) stands guard on the sandstone slightly to the
right of the path, while the youngster hides behind the rock, hidden from
danger. The plovers have become a lot more tolerant to human presence
around them and for the first time in 3 years allowed me close enough to
take decent pictures. They are fairly large birds and one can easily see
them in the early mornings from the bedrooms at the Guest House. Like the
oystercatchers these birds are very alert and they quickly leave if man
gets too close. Just like the oystercatchers, the Plovers main hazard is the indiscriminate traffic that man causes on the dunes, trampling the birds eggs to dust. |
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birds nest on the ground and do not make a nest as such but relies instead
on the fact that its eggs are colored such that even when a thief is
looking at them they cannot recognize them for what they are. They are
white or brown depending on the birds habitat and have dots and splashes
which match the background so closely that they are indistinguishable from
it. The major danger facing the plover's and the oystercatcher's eggs is not so much that they will be noticed as that they will be trodden on because they are NOT noticed. Please use only the pathway provided from the Beach House to the beach and do not randomly walk over the dune when staying at the Beach House. |
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| Crowned
Plovers are widespread on Savannas through Africa but interestingly enough
is regarded by some references as being absent from coastal areas and this
wader that enjoys the beach is not meant to be a seabird! Males and
females are identical and are large birds with the adults being 30 cm
tall. The crowned plover opportunistically forages on a wide variety of insects, but mostly ants and termites. These insects are often extracted from the dung of large mammals. They feed mainly by surface pecking as opposed to digging. One curious feeding habit of all plovers, which has not fully been analyzed, has been called foot paddling or foot trembling. The plover stamps the ground with its foot. Worms mistake the noise for the pattering of rain and burrow up to the surface where they are eaten by the plover. Because crowned plovers live in open grassland where there is no vegetation to conceal them, they have a highly-developed ability to detect potential predators. As soon as hatching occurs the adults change from being quiet and restrained to being exceedingly noisy and aggressive at the approach of a human. The crowned plover is highly conspicuous, it moves by alternating short runs with its body held horizontally with a motionless vertical stance. The crowned plover is highly vocal with a rasping erEEK, an excited kree-kree-kreeip-kreeip or WEEK-EEK-EEK, or a chattering tri-tri-tri-tri. |
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| Continue the Bird Watching Tour to find out more about the Beach House birds. |
Bird
Watching |
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Where to go? |
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Thai
Prawn Soup |
Cape
Maclear
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Contact:
info@sunsetbeach.co.za |
Janthina |
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Siffie for Beach Hotel Rates | ||||||||
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