The Intimidating Spotted Thick Head/Knee Wader - A Majestic Bird

When I played at my old golf course, close to the ocean, we had a hole with a resident bird that did not like it when we came close. She was obviously a spotted thick head/knee wader (Burhinus capensis). If you have ever encountered one of these birds you will know precisely how they behave. When you come close to this bird, they extend their legs so that they stand taller, almost half a meter tall, and they spread their wings. Their wingspan is almost a meter. When these birds hiss and walk towards you with their wings open, you play another ball!

Golf aside, these birds are in fact night birds with the most eery sound. Every night, I lay in bed listening to these birds and their night calls. This Wikipedia article on them has a preview of their sound. It really bothers me how haunting this sound is. I do not know what happened in my past that I would come to associate this bird's night call with something bad, but I never feel good when I hear them call.

But during the day, these birds also stand exhibit strange behaviours. They stand almost dead still and just look at you. I think their logic is "if I cannot see you you cannot see me," or something along that line. We also had multiple run-ins with these birds where they stood in the middle of a deserted road with only the headlight illuminating their yellow eyes. These birds are beautiful, but they are just as scary!

I found this breeding pair in a peach orchard protecting their eggs. They did their signature move of standing dead still, as if I might not see them if they did not move. The female stood up to protect her eggs, and I saw a glimpse of the two eggs. But she quickly sat down. I was not close enough to pose a threat (thanks to the zoom lens!).

I love to see these birds, and luckily their numbers are strong. They are also widespread, living in numerous regions throughout Africa. But because their nests are on the ground, highly exposed themselves, they disappear as soon as cats enter the area. We had a pair in my garden and in my granddad's garden, but both these breeding pairs disappeared when the neighbour's cats decided they liked our gardens. Such a shame. I just hope that nothing happened to them and that they merely searched for new homes.

I was very lucky to get close to them so that I could share their beauty here. I don't see them that often any more, but I do hear them at night. Or early in the morning when you move between waking states and dream states.

Here you can see the mother protecting her eggs. Being night birds, it is amazing that they are also so awake throughout the day. I wonder if I would even function with that little sleep.

The male was close by, protecting both his wife and their eggs. In my home language, they are called "dikkop" or thick head. But it is more common, I see, to call them thick knees! Shame, I would not want that name.

In any case, I really hope that you enjoyed the photographs of these beautiful birds. Let me know in the comments if you have ever encountered some of these! They are stunning and need some recognition. It is the first time that I have photographed them. And I was so happy that I had my camera with me at that moment. I only saw the father or husband on our way out, so I was lucky twice!

Happy birding for now, and keep well!

All of the photographs used in this post are my own, taken with my Nikon D300 and Tamron 300mm zoom lens. The writings are also my own, unless hyperlinked or stated otherwise.