Helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris) are common throughout much of Africa. This female was one of a small mixed-age party of guineafowl crossing the track in front of us at South Luangwa National Park in May 2007. They're protected there, of course, but elsewhere they're popular eating — I often saw "guineafowls" advertised on the walls of roadside meat shacks in Ghana and Malawi. 
31 October 2009
Helmeted guineafowl, South Luangwa NP, Zambia
Helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris) are common throughout much of Africa. This female was one of a small mixed-age party of guineafowl crossing the track in front of us at South Luangwa National Park in May 2007. They're protected there, of course, but elsewhere they're popular eating — I often saw "guineafowls" advertised on the walls of roadside meat shacks in Ghana and Malawi.
I'm sure I've seen these distinctive birds at the aviary or at zoos. Hard to forget a face like that.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother used to keep a type of domestic guineafowl on her farm in Georgia in the US. They served as "watch dogs" or sentries. If anyone entered the property they would all start to vocalize and jump into the shrubs.
ReplyDeleteGreat shot...love those dots!
Zhoen, they're certainly kept as domestic poultry in many parts of the world (including New Zealand — I used to live next door to some and never got tired of seeing them. Their call, however, was a different matter).
ReplyDeletePatricia, they're certainly great sentries, and with a call like that, they'd be unlikely to be ignored.