Exploring Pigeon Valley: The Green Malkoha

The riches of Pigeon Valley Nature Reserve explained by Glenwood resident and chair of the Friends of Pigeon Valley.

This is the fourth in an ongoing series that highlights the riches of Pigeon Valley, the urban nature reserve in the heart of Glenwood. The focus of this article is on the Green Malkoha.

Durban is the southern range of the Green Malkoha (formerly called the Green Coucal), an intriguing and uncommon bird, particularly in cities. It is also a bird that skulks high in the thickets, frustrating bird watchers who want to see this striking bird with its ‘banana’ bill. In the past 25 years, I know of its making perhaps five visits to Pigeon Valley, sometimes for a couple of months, and have been lucky to get a few brief views of it.

Recently, however, the distinctive calls have been more frequent. Part of the call is a ‘tick-tick’ sound, like knocking coins together. An observer swore he had heard two calling at the same time, raising the possibility that they are breeding in the area. On Friday morning, after a damp night, I wandered early into a clearing and after a minute or so realised that one was sitting in the sunlight, drying out its feathers. While it has a reputation of avoiding being seen, the bird was completely relaxed and allowed me to watch it and photograph it until it clearly decided it was dry enough, about 15 minutes later. In such situations I always feel that we are getting to know each other, so next time round it will also be relaxed.

ALSO READ: Exploring Pigeon Valley: The Black Mamba

One of the Friends of Pigeon Valley is David Attenborough, who, although he is highly knowledgeable about wildlife, is actually not the same person as his British namesake. I phoned him and he came to secure good views of it, his first sighting ever. Why the Malkoha’s appearance is more frequent I don’t know, but what we know about conservation is that protecting habitats is the most significant thing we can do. The thickets in Pigeon Valley are doing very well, thank you, making this a great place for birds, despite its urban location.

Crispin Hemson chairs the Friends of Pigeon Valley, a group that undertakes clearing of alien plants, keeps records of bird and mammal sightings and alerting management to any problems.

The Friends have a monthly walk at 7.30am on the second Saturday of each month. Email: friendsofpigeonvalley1@gmail.com.

 

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