African Wildlife & Environment Issue 79

BIRDING

Food It feeds mainly on invertebrates, such as caterpillars, spiders, moths, cicadas and mantids, rarely supplemented with small reptiles like skinks and chameleons. It hunts by sitting motionless on a perch, occasionally moving its head from side to side and up and down, looking for prey. Flying or perched insects are hawked like a flycatcher or bee-eater from a perch, with a surprisingly fast, twisting flight of short duration - once prey is located, it is rapidly grabbed before returning to its perch. It very rarely hawks its prey off the ground. Breeding It is a monogamous, solitary nester, with strong pair-bonds. Courtship is highly elaborate, with a 'floating lek', in which three to seven males gather to aerially chase each other, while the females pick out their mates. This display is followed by more courtship displays which last a few more days. In this period the pair will locate their nest site. Narina Trogons nest in natural cavities in trees up to 250 to 600 mm deep and unlined. The following species are the trees of choice: Strychnos decussata (Cape-teak), Combretum kraussi (Forest bushwillow), Siderxylon inerme (White milkwood), Vitellariopsis marginata (Forest bush- milkwood), Ptaeroxylon obliquum (Sneezewood), and dead Ficus (Wild fig). Nests are normally sited more than 150m apart, and from three to five metres above the ground. Two to four oval- shaped white eggs are laid, which are incubated by both sexes for 16-17 days, starting from October through to February, but mainly November and December. The chicks are fed mainly by the male, but both sexes do feed, roughly three times an hour. The following food items have been recorded in the chick’s diet: moths, butterflies, cicadas, bladder grasshoppers, mantids and stick insects up to 15 cm long. The chicks are brooded in the early stages of their life, leaving the nest after about 25-28 days. They remain with the parents for months after fledging, even when they can get their own food. During this period the male Narina Trogon has been observed defending his territory against

touracos, cuckoos, and squirrels. When breeding, the birds are very secretive and silent in the vicinity of the nest, and the incubating parent is not easily flushed. Fledglings often fall prey to various forest- or woodland-dwelling smaller raptors like the African Goshawk. Threats and conservation status Listed as 'least concern' by the IUCN; the small population in northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip is at risk due to elephant and human impact on the riparian habitat. Aggressive encounters have been observed with other hole nesters like Black-bellied and Common Starlings as well as Red-billed Wood Hoopoes.

John Wesson jwesson@wessanorth.co.za

FURTHER READING

Chittenden H, Allan D,Weiersbye I, (2012). Roberts GeographicVariation of Southern African Birds, 1st Ed. The Trustees of the Voelcker Bird Book Fund. Cape Town Chittenden, H, Davies, G & Weiersbye, I. (2016). Roberts Bird Guide. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg Fry, CH, Keith, S, & Urban, EK.(1988). The Birds of Africa, Volume III. Academic Press, London. Ginn, P.J., McIlleron,W.G. & Milstein, P. le S.(1989). The Complete Book of Southern African Birds. Struik Publishers, Cape Town. South African Bird Atlas project 2. Animal Demographic Unit, University of Cape Town. https://www.sanbi.org/link/south- african-bird-atlas-project-sabap2/ Tarboton,WR. (2011). Roberts Nests & Eggs of Southern African Birds. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.

52 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 79 (2021)