Thick knee or water dikkop
THEY keep changing the names of our birds, so they can sell more books.
As such, the dikkop (thick head) is now the thick knee.
This bird is found in most regions of South Africa except the dry west. It is a common resident along rivers, dams, lakes, pans, estuaries, mangrove swamps and beaches.
It is usually solitary or in pairs when breeding, otherwise in loose flocks of up to 30 birds.
The thick knee is mainly crepuscular and nocturnal. Groups usually stand hunched around the edge of the water or squat in cover of bushes and trees by day. It prefers to run than fly when disturbed but flies with strong, irregular wing beats.
The voice is rapid, wild piping whistles which decreases in volume to the end. It is often vocal in full daylight. It feeds on insects, crustaceans, molluscs and fish fingerlings, and mainly breeds from September to November. Its nest is a scrape in the sand among driftwood stones or small bushes, some 20m from the water.
The female lays two eggs, and incubation lasts 24 days.
Its Zulu name is umJenjana.
