By Kakae Saiteu - Guide, Greystoke MahaleIn this flat beautiful bay where Greystoke Mahale camp is located; there are several species of birds. One fascinating species is the African pied wagtail. The African pied wagtail prefers wetland, rocky-river channel and sparsely vegetated sandy beaches beside large bodies of water. And of course they are well adapted to human modified habitats. This site where the camp is located is a perfect habitat to these birds.
African pied wagtail are territorial and become more so when in breeding season. One pair of this bird is now using Greystoke Mahale’s Mess building as a core of their territory. They are often seen perching on the roof or frames of the mess building, resting, scanning for intruders, which normally are conspecifics, or waiting to hawk or pick insects when spotted.
They have fascinating social behaviors. However, that of attacking their own reflected image from shining framed pictures of local chimpanzees, hanging from the mess building wall is inspiring. While sitting at the mess building, you can see this pair of birds attacking their reflections perceiving as intruders. They blow so hard and sometime fall to the ground as a result of that smash. Amazing these birds! Despite hard smashing, still go on doing it again until they got exhausted and leave. Next time they pass by and see the reflection the game starts once more.
Picture by Sonja Zweegers
