African Birds, Inopinaves

Here are 22 birds portraits. August is not necessarily the best time for birding in the places where we were. Large flocks of varieties of European and North African migratory birds fill the Okavango Delta of Botswana during the “green season”. The best time for this is October through April. The Maasai Mara reserve is most noted hosting the largest bird species, Ostriches. This area is a major destination for migrating birds between November and February. From June to July the Mara River is filled with weaver birds and bishops. We saw only the weaver nest remains from the last season. The Okavango claims 475 confirmed species. Kenya claims 1145 confirmed species.

The cover picture is a male ostrich. He was herding his flock of female birds and would occasionally trot around them with great powerful strides.

The Inopinave clade includes all land birds and songbirds, including raptors, hawks, owls, toucans, falcons, parrots. For conversation in this publication, I subdivided this clade into raptors, hornbills, scavengers, guineafowl, general bush birds and ostrich. To understand the naming of birds used in this blog site check out the previous discussion on bird identification in the Eeverglades ark posting.

RAPTORS

African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer)We have seen this example in a previous posting and we will see more of him in a later posting specifically about his behavior
Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapx) Maasai Mara
Long Crested Eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis), Maasai Mara
Gabar Goshawk (Micronisus gabar). Found in open woodland of Chobe Okavango, Botswana
Secretary bird (Accipitriformes, Sagittariidae) Maasai Mara. Preys on small ground animals. It does fly.
Pearl Spotted Owl (Glaucidium perlatum) This was photographed at night with near total darkness and a handy flash attachment. We were returning from viewing a Wild Dog pack hunting and while we stopped for a stampeding nerd of buffalo crossing out path I caught this

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HORNBILLS

Bradfield’s Hornbill (Tockus bradfieldi) Maasai Mara
Southern Yellow Hornbill ( ) Maasai Mara
Southern Red Hornbill ( ) Maasai Mara
Southern Ground Hornbill ( ) Maasai Mara

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SCAVENGERS

White Backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) Okavango. These birds were working on a buffalo carcass that was taken down by lions two days previous to this scene. More on these vultures later.

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GUINEAFOWL

Vulture guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum) Groups of 50 to 100 of these beautiful birds trotted like turkeys across the floor of the scrublands in the Maasai Mara.
Helmeted Guineafowl (Numidia meleangris)
Africa yellow necked Spurfowl (Pternistis leucoscepus). AKA Yellow-Necked Francolin. Picking seeds from elephant dung
Red Crested Korhan (female ) (Lophotis ruficrista) . Botswana

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GENERAL BUSH BIRDS

This image of a Lilac-breasted Roller (Caracas caudates) is just breathtaking in color when you consider the relatively monochromatic nature of the Maasai Mara. I took more than 90 images over many days of searching to get just the right image.We will see more images of this species because of its color. Maasai Mara.
This Little Bee Eater ((Merops pusillus) was also difficult to photograph. Okavango.
Grey Go-Away-Bird (Corythaioxides concolor). Gets its name from its song.
Yellow Bellied Greenbul (Chlorocichla flaviventris) looking for insects in the bush of the Maasai Mara.
Superb Starling (Lamprotornis superbus). Sweetwater lodge at lunch time
Caped Wheatear (Oenanthe pileata) Sweetwater lodge at lunch time.

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OSTRICH

Common ostrich (Struthio camelus). This largest of birds is flightless and is found in the Maasai Mara. They have powerful legs for running and fighting. According to National Geographic: “Ostriches don’t bury their heads in the sand—they wouldn’t be able to breathe! But they do dig holes in the dirt to use as nests for their eggs. Several times a day, a bird puts her head in the hole and turns the eggs. The Common ostrich is an interesting example of evolutionary stasis. The present Struthio camelus belongs to palaeognatha which apparently branched out as neognathous birds about 50 Mya. Check out the quantum analysis

Aequorlitornithes are presented in a following posting. They include all shorebirds, waterbirds, flamingos, grebes, gulls, tropicbirds, penguins, including pelicans, ibis, and heron.

There are so many bird species in these two countries. Many of them are migratory and can be found in Europe and Northern Africa. I sorry to have missed the best of the birding season. Perhaps another trip just for birds and insects would be another adventure. Unfortunately the season for birds is coincident wit insect seasons. I’m not sure that my allergies to biting bugs would appreciate that exposure.

I highly recommend participation in the Cornel Lab of Ornithology found at eBird. It a great resource for identification and information.

#Africa #birds #Inopinaves #raptor #hornbill #bush birds #Spurfowl #guineafowl #scavenger #ostrich #starling #Lilac-breasted Roller #Okavango #Botswana #Maasai Mara #Kenya

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One response to “African Birds, Inopinaves”

  1. Hairstyles Avatar
    Hairstyles

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One thought on “African Birds, Inopinaves”

  1. Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you抳e on this web site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for more articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found simply the info I already searched all over the place and just could not come across. What an ideal website.

    Like

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