CRESTED GUINEAFOWL

Guttera edouardi
iMpanggele-yehlathi, iNgekle, umQanki (Zulu) Kuifkoptarentaal (Afrikaans)

HABITAT
Matted thickets and tangles at the edges of lowveld evergreen forests, gallery forest and thornveld. Found in north eastern Zululand and in isolated forest patches in the lower parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

TYPE
Similar to the helmeted Guineafowl but the head is topped with a crest of curly black feathers. In pairs when nesting otherwise in small flocks of up to 30 birds. They have crimson eyes, grey green bill, whitish legs and black feet.

BREEDING
Crested Guineafowl nest between November and February in KwaZulu-Natal, making a small scrape on the ground which they line with dried plant material. It is usually next to a log or between exposed roots. They lay between 2 and 4 eggs which are pink or buff in colour with darker pore markings.

FOOD
They forage by scratching in the leaf litter, on fruit in trees and they often follow a monkey troop to harvest fallen fruit. The food consists of fruit, berries, leaves, stems, seeds, roots, corms and insects and other invertabrates.

STATUS
Locally common resident.