Category Archives: Birds

Lift Off!

White-throated Swallow Hirundo albigularis

The white-throated swallow is a small bird in the swallow family. It is a common species, found in southern Africa, which has benefited from the increased nesting opportunities presented by the construction of bridges and dams.

The swallow breeds in southern Africa from Angola and Zambia southwards to the Cape in South Africa. It is mainly migratory, wintering in Angola, Zambia and southern Zaire. This is a bird of open country and grassland, with a preference for highlands and nearby water. It is often found around man-made structures.

This image was captured at Marievale Bird Sanctuary, a wetland area near the town of Nigel, South Africa on a very dull and wet day.

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Angry Bird!

Goliath heron Ardea goliath

The Goliath heron, also known as the giant heron, is a very large wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa, with smaller numbers in Southwest and South Asia, and is the world’s largest heron.

The Goliath heron is very aquatic, even by heron standards, rarely venturing far from a water source and preferring to fly along waterways rather than move over land. Important habitats can include lakes, swamps, mangrove wetlands, reefs with few cool water, sometimes river deltas. It typically is found in shallows, though can be observed near deep water over dense water vegetation. Goliath herons can even be found in small watering holes. They have ranged in elevation from sea level to 2,100 m (6,900 ft). They tend to prefer pristine wetlands and generally avoid areas where human disturbances are a regular occurrence.

This image was captured at Lake Panic, Kruger National Park, South Africa.

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Walk in the park….

White-crowned Lapwing Vanellus albiceps

The white-crowned lapwing, white-headed lapwing, white-headed plover or white-crowned plover is a medium-sized wader. It is resident throughout sub-Saharan Africa, usually near large rivers.

This lapwing is unmistakable. Its wings and tail are strikingly patterned in black and white, the back is brown and the underparts white. The head is particularly striking, being mainly grey, but with a white crown and foreneck. The eyering, facial wattles and legs are yellow. Females, males and young birds are similar in plumage. It is a wader which breeds on exposed sand or shingle near rivers. 2–3 eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The nest and young are defended noisily and aggressively against all intruders, up to and including the hippopotamus. Food is mainly insects and other small invertebrates. This species often feeds in small flocks when not breeding.

The white-crowned lapwing is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

This image was captured at Sunset Dam, near Lower Sabie, Kruger National Park, South Africa.

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Fruit Salad

Crested Barbet Trachyphonus vaillantii

The Crested Barbet is a sub-Saharan bird in the Lybiidae family. Its specific name commemorates François Levaillant, a famed French naturalist.

With its thick bill and very colourful plumage the crested barbet is unmistakable. This small bird has a speckled yellow and red face with a small black crest. The belly is yellow with red speckles, wings are black with white specks and it has a broad black band on its neck. Yellow head and body with black and white feathers, red markings on end of body, its colour blends well in the bush.

It is locally nicknamed the Fruit Salad bird. This image was captured in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

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Paradise

African Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone viridis

The African Paradise Flycatcher is a common resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. This species is usually found in open forests and savannah habitats. Two or three eggs are laid in a tiny cup nest in a tree.

The adult male is about 17 cm long, but the very long tail streamers double this. It has a black head, neck and underparts, and chestnut wings and tail. There is a prominent white wingbar. The female has a browner tint to the underparts and lacks the wingbar and tail streamers. Young birds are similar to the female but duller.

The males show considerable variation in plumage in some areas. There is a morph of this species in which the male has the chestnut parts of the plumage replaced by white, and some races have black tail streamers.

The African Paradise Flycatcher is a noisy bird with a harsh scolding call. It has short legs and sits very upright whilst perched prominently, like a shrike. It is insectivorous, often hunting by flycatching.

This image was captured close to the Phabeni entrance gate to the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

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Wading….

White-backed Vulture

The White-backed Vulture is a typical vulture, with only down feathers on the head and neck, very broad wings and short tail feathers. It has a white neck ruff. The adult’s whitish back contrasts with the otherwise dark plumage. Juveniles are largely dark. This is a medium-sized vulture; its body mass is 4.2 to 7.2 kilograms (9.3–16 lb), it is 78 to 98 cm (31 to 39 in) long and has a 1.96 to 2.25 m (6 to 7 ft) wingspan.

Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of animals which it finds by soaring over savannah. It also takes scraps from human habitations. It often moves in flocks. It breeds in trees on the savannah of west and east Africa, laying one egg. The population is mostly resident.

As it is rarer than previously believed, its conservation status was reassessed from Least Concern to Near Threatened in the 2007 IUCN Red List. In 2012 it was further uplisted to Endangered.

This image was captured at the Klein Namutoni water-hole, close to the Namutoni rest-camp, Etosha National Park, Namibia.

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Take Off

The Herons of Lake Panic

One of the most productive birding sites in the Kruger National Park is the bird hide at Lake Panic, situated close to the Skukuza Rest Camp. A visit to the hide will nearly always be fruitful for birders and photographers alike. The photographers are, almost without exception, treated to the most wonderful fly-pasts of the Herons, providing excellent bird-in-flight opportunities.

Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala

The black-headed heron is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, common throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. It is mainly resident, but some west African birds move further north in the rainy season.

This species usually breeds in the wet season in colonies in trees, reedbeds or cliffs. It builds a bulky stick nest, and lays 2–4 eggs.

It often feeds in shallow water, spearing fish or frogs with its long, sharp bill. It will also hunt well away from water, taking large insects, small mammals, and birds. It will wait motionless for its prey, or slowly stalk its victim.

The black-headed heron is a large bird, standing 85 cm tall, and it has a 150 cm wingspan. It is nearly as large as the grey heron, which it resembles in appearance, although it is generally darker. Its plumage is largely grey above, and paler grey below. It has a powerful dusky bill. The flight is slow, with the neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, and spoonbills, which extend their necks. The white underwing coverts are striking in flight.

This image was captured at Lake Panic, Kruger National Park, South Africa.

View this and similar images on my Flickr site — Duncan’s Flickr Page

Pretty Close Up

Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis

The pied kingfisher is a water kingfisher and is found widely distributed across Africa and Asia. Its black and white plumage, crest and the habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish makes it distinctive. Males have a double band across the breast while females have a single gorget that is often broken in the middle. They are usually found in pairs or small family parties. When perched, they often bob their head and flick up their tail.

This male is depicted here at life-size! These little guys are fun to photograph in the sense that they are very fast moving and unpredicatable; but on the other hand their black/white contrast is often difficult to capture without loss of detail.

This image was captured on the Chobe River, near Kasane, northern Botswana, Southern Africa.

Evil Eye!

Coppery-tailed Coucal Centropus cupreicaudus

The coppery-tailed coucal is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. It is native to parts of south central Africa. Its range stretches from Angola in the west to south-western Tanzania, northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip in Namibia. Its typical habitat is swampland and dense vegetation near rivers, but it is also found on inundated floodplains and near seasonal lakes. The total size of its range is around 1,750,000 square kilometres (680,000 sq mi).

This image was captured on the Chobe River, near Kasane, northern Botswana, Southern Africa.