Schotia afra and muisvoëls

A small flock of speckled mousebirds are considering food resources upon this Schotia afra in the Addo. In leisurely gathering here, they roost in a close cluster from before sunset to after sunrise.

The mousebird name was bestowed for their mouse-like clambering habit in branches like these, unlike other birds that will hop or dart in short flights; the grey colour and the shape surely contributing to the analogy.

These birds are common residents from the Cape Peninsula in a broad coastal swathe across the southern Cape and Eastern Cape through KwaZulu-Natal to Mozambique and further in tropical Africa. There are two more mousebird species in South Africa, all three occurring in this Park.

The Albany thicket is home to both S. afra and S. latifolia, the two trees hybridising in this region (Maclean, 1993; Coates Palgrave, 2002).