Guttera pucherani (near-endemic)

With its distinctive black crown, this exquisite guineafowl is easy to identify in its forest edge, thicket and dense woodland habitat. Although this species occurs in many parts of Africa, it is an exciting find in South Africa where it is restricted to northern Limpopo and northern KwaZulu Natal.

We first recorded this species in Ndumo Game Reserve in September 2010. My best sighting, however, was on a visit to Bonamanzi Game Reserve in March 2014. Based on this experience, it seems that these gunieafowl favour being near or on the road when it is raining. I must have seen at least 3 groups on one rainy morning in the reserve. And instead of frantically running away (as is the normal behavior) they were happy to stick around for as many photographs as I was willing to take.