Specie's Page                                               South Africa - Helmeted Guineafowl

Helmeted Guineafowl:  

UK Status: Native to Africa, can be seen in the UK on farms and in wildlife parks and zoo's

Habitat: Found mostly south of the Sahara in Africa, on temperate grasslands, tropical savvanah, dry tropical forests, deserts and shrubby places. These birds are omnivores and eat almost anything nutritious, including snakes, lizards frogs, worms, insects, spiders, seeds, nuts and greens.

Breeding: Nests are usually just a bare unlined scrape on the ground, usually well camouflaged hidden under bushes, or under low rocky outcrops etc. There are six to twelve eggs, light to medium colour brown, with no markings. and are very ovular in shape. Eggs hatch in about four weeks, and the chicks, or skeets can walk and feed themselves soon after hatching.

Comment: This bird has been introduced into the wild in many parts of the world. It is also widely farmed as a bird to be eaten like turkey's and chickens.