Black Korhaan

THE black korhaan lives in the dry western parts of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

It is usually solitary but sometimes is found in pairs, however the female is rarely seen.

It stands conspicuously on termite mounds.

When displaying for females, the males fly up calling a noisy, loud and harsh crowing ‘kraak kraak’. It then cruises around, slowly descends with rapidly flapping wings and dangling yellow legs. On landing, it stands still or runs into grass.

Up to five males can display for one female.

The black korhaan’s food is made up of 70% animal matter and 30% plant material, which is mostly seeds. It breeds from July until March in a nest which is a scrape in the ground among grass tufts. One egg is laid 85% of the time, while there may be two eggs 15% of the time. The egg is khaki or olive green in colour. Incubation lasts 21 days, and the young are fledgings for about 75 days.

The black korhaan does not occur in KZN, hence it has no Zulu name but Xhosas call it iKhalu-Khalu.