The Helmeted Guineafowl/Gewone Tarentaal (Numida meleagris), cannot be confused with any other bird. It is a fairly large bird, about the size of a domestic chicken. The overall colour of the bird is greyish black with small black spots all over the body.
It has an unfeathered head, decorated with a horny knob/horn on top (hence the name helmeted) and bright red and blue patches of skin and facial wattles (see photograph).Typically these birds hold their bodies horizontally with their heads upright and their tails pointing down. Males and females look alike.
Sometimes guineafowl is called “original fowl” or “guineahen”. When I was a child and the British monetary system was still in use in South Africa, one Pound and one Shilling was known as a Guinea. Where I grew up some of the farmers spoke about the guineafowl as “die een-Pond-een-hoender”. In ancient San language their name for the bird translates as the “Heaven-and-Earth Bird”, because it walks on earth and bears the stars of heaven all over its body.
The helmeted guineafowl is the best known and most common of the guineafowl family. It is native and endemic to the African continent. It is ranked among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. They are found throughout South Africa, except for the dry, far western regions.
This bird is not indigenous to the Karoo and Western Cape. Cecil Rhodes was responsible for their introduction to the Cape Peninsula at the beginning of the 20th century. They have adapted so successfully to these regions and they will even settle in suburban gardens. Their status, therefore, can be described as a very common resident. Through the South African region they are found naturally in open grassland, vlei’s, savanna, cultivated lands and bushveld.
This gregarious species form large flocks (20 or 30 to over 100 birds) outside the breeding season and also roost communally. They are very active terrestrial birds and although they are strong fliers, they are prone to rather run than to fly when alarmed. They will only take to the air if they are in real danger, and then they fly well and fast. They can be extremely noisy, particularly in the evening when they are about to roost. Once they are in their roost tree, however, they are very quiet. Also when they are disturbed, they become very noisy.
Their two main calls are a loud, harsh “Chuck! Chuck! alarm call and an equally strident “Buckwheat! Buckwheat!” call, that the female uses during the breeding season, to attract a suitable mate.
Guineafowl play a pivotal role in the control of pests like ticks, flies, locusts and other insects, which they mainly feed on. They also feed on seeds berries and bulbs which they scratch and peck from the ground. During the harvesting season on the highveld, they gather in large flocks on the roads used by farmers to transport their harvest to the silos, to feed on the fallen grain and may pose a threat to the hasty motorist. They are most active during early morning and late afternoon.
Their breeding season is mainly from November to January when the ground cover is quite dense. At this time the flocks split up into pairs, those that are ready for breeding. The paired birds select their own territory for breeding and spend much time chasing other guineafowl from their selected area. The nest is a scrape in the ground, lined with dry grass, usually in dense cover or under a bush. A female lays 6 – 12 eggs. The eggs have remarkably thick shells. Incubation takes 23 – 26 days and is done by the female only. The chicks leave the nest and follow the parents within 4 to 5 hours after hatching and are taken care of by both parents. The young are fully fledged at about 4 weeks after hatching. The flocks reassemble once the chicks are half-grown and capable fliers.
