Southern Black Korhaan

The southern black korhaan (Afrotis afra), also known as the black bustard, is a species of bird in the bustard family, Otididae. This small bustard is found in southwestern South Africa, from Namaqualand, south to Cape Town and east to Makhanda. It prefers semi-arid habitats such as grasslands, shrublands and savannas where it can easily prey on ground-dwelling arthropods and eat seeds. It reproduces yearly in the spring and will lay about one or two eggs per breeding season. Numbers have declined rapidly as much of its habitat has been converted to agricultural land and remaining tracts are often fragmented. Due to this habitat destruction, the species is considered vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. == Taxonomy == The southern black korhaan was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Otis afra. Formerly known as Eupodotis afra, it is now classified as Afrotis afra. They belong to the bustard family, Otididae. It was previously thought that the southern black korhaan and the northern black korhaan were the same species (the northern black korhaan being a sub-species, E. afra afroaoides).…