Termite mound on a Lowveld slope

Mound builder termite species occur in southern Africa, Australia and South America. There are many shapes and sizes of these mounds, variable according to the species of the builders, just as the shape of and materials used in a birds nest indicate the species of the builder.

As the cuckoo does not build at all, laying eggs in the nests of other birds, a termite mound may outlive its builder colony and later be used by another colony as home or even by another species.

Mounds may measure up to 30 m in diameter. Height and shape also vary greatly. Complicated tunnels and shafts, some dedicated to ventilation, protrude above-ground on top of the subterranean nest where the colony resides and breeds.

A pointed red mound is visible in the middle distance in this Lowveld landscape. The cone-shaped mound is constructed of red earth of the Sabie River basin. The scene contains large trees, several of them leafless in winter, in accordance with the characteristic growth patterns of the respective species. Around the trees the grass is dry, its above-ground component dead, eaten and trampled by roaming grazers residing in this typical game reserve terrain (Wikipedia).