Giant Kingfisher
Latin name: Ceryle maxima
Length: about 45cm.
Breeding: 3-5 eggs.
Distribution: east from Senegal to Ethiopia and south to South Africa.

The first thing that strikes you about the giant kingfisher is its sheer size. Of the world's 86 species of kingfisher, only Australia's laughing kookaburra comes close. Compared to the 17 other members of Africa's Halcyonidae family, the giant kingfisher is in a league of its own, weighing up to five times more than the pied kingfisher - the only species with vaguely similar markings.

Apart from size, the giant kingfisher can be distinguished by a chestnut band across the male's breast and the female's belly. Unlike the pied kingfisher, the giant is not very accomplished at hovering. Its flight pattern is more similar to that of the reed cormorant. You can tell the two apart, however, by looking out for a black, not yellow, beak and a crest that is far more pronounced than the cormorant's.

The giant kingfisher can be spotted on tree branches, overhead wires or rocks, along sandy seashores, coastal lagoons and mangrove swamps. However it favours inland waterways, often perching silently above a perennial wooded stream, and is a constant sentinel at many waterfalls. Here it will suddenly dive into the spray to seize a fish. On regaining its perch it manoeuvres the prey in its beak before swallowing it whole. A large fish may be pounded against a rock or branch in order to break its bones and make ingestion easier.

Freshwater crabs and frogs form a large part of the giant kingfisher's diet. Like most other species of kingfisher it lays its eggs in a 1-2m long chamber dug near the top of a sand bank. Though normally quiet, it can emit a rather raucous "kek-kek-kek-kek" call.

The Cichlid Family
Latin name: Cichlidae
Length: 3-4cm to about 300cm.
Weight: a few grams to 3kg or more.
Breeding: usually between 300 and 600 eggs per spawning.

Cichlids (pronounced si'klidz) are the largest family of freshwater fish in Africa. There are hundreds of different species, many of which are endemic to a specific location. Lake Malawi, for example, has around 600 unique cichlids, while Lake Tanganyika supports a further 200 mainly endemic varieties. Most of the cichlids in Lake Victoria are Haplochromines and Tilapines. However a combination of predation from the introduced Nile perch and eutrophication has caused widespread reduction and probably the extinction of some species.

Cichlids are physically characterised by fairly deep but relatively flat bodies, spines on their dorsal and anal fins, a lateral line between the two and one nostril on each side of the snout. Attractively coloured smaller varieties are popular in aquariums while larger specimens are a major protein source for many Africans. Malawi Chambo and Tilapia nilotica make particularly good eating. However whilst cichlids, spawning two or more times a season, produce numerous offspring, large-scale netting is extracting its toll. To compensate, prolific breeders such as Tilapia Mozambique are being farmed as a food source.

After courtship displays, which sometimes involve kissing, receptive females of many species lay their eggs in a nest, usually a dish scooped out of the lakebed gravel. The male then discharges his milt over them. The fertilised eggs are fanned to ensure a continuous overflow of oxygenated water. Hatchlings, which appear after about ten days, are guarded in ‘nurseries' in warm shallow waters. Other species of cichlids, the female of Paratilapia multicolor and the male of Macrocephala tilapia for example, are mouthbreeders, sometimes nurturing up to 600 fry at a time.