Bird of the week – Week 17 : Speckled pigeon
What is a “squab” when it is not a short, fat person or a type of cushion? And what is the difference between a “dove” and a “pigeon”? Well, a squab is the term...
Author: Rob
Bird of the week – Week 16 : Red-headed finch
The Red-headed finch is about size of a Cape sparrow; hence quite a small bird at just 14 cm in length, yet quite large as finches go. The sexes are dimorphic in plumage; the...
Bird of the week – Week 15 : Southern yellow-billed hornbill
The hornbills are a very distinctive and curious group of birds, with their enormous bills, often decorated by a casque. On the ground, they look as though they should have great difficulty in holding...
Bird of the week – Week 14 : Scaly-feathered finch
Don’t you find “Scaly-feathered finch” an odd and rather unflattering name? I prefer “Baardmannetjie”, this small bird’s Afrikaans name that can be translated as “little man with a beard”. Take a look at the...
Bird of the week – Week 13 : Great egret
The Great egret is the largest of the white egrets. At almost a metre in length and with a wingspan of up to 1.3 metres, it is almost as large as the more familiar...
Bird of the week – Week 12 : Verreaux’s eagle
Visit any part of Southern Africa blessed with mountainous terrain or rocky hills and gorges inhabited by dassies (or hyraxes) at a time when the thermals are rising and there is a good chance...
Bird of the week – Week 11 : Lilac-breasted roller
One of the most delightful avian sights to be seen in the central and northern parts of Southern Africa is that of the male Lilac-breasted roller in his courtship flight. He ascends to up...
Bird of the week – Week 10 : White-tailed shrike
The white tailed shrike is one of the most easily recognized shrikes in the Southern African region. Looking a bit like an overgrown batis in its black, white and grey plumage, it gives the...
Bird of the week – Week 9 : Swainson’s spurfowl
Chicken-sized, brownish francolins and spurfowls are quite common in Namibia. Vaguely similar in size and build, closer examination quickly divides them up into several different species. The Swainson’s spurfowl distinguishes itself from its relatives...
Bird of the week – Week 8 : Red-eyed bulbul
The African red-eyed bulbul is near endemic to Southern Africa, its range extending only marginally into southern Angola and Zambia. It is extremely common throughout most of Namibia, with the exception of the Namib...
Bird of the week – Week 7 : African fish-eagle
Bird of the week – Week 7 : African fish-eagle Picture this. Reclining on a sofa-bed in the open air pub at Oddballs Camp in the Okavango Delta, beer in hand, looking out over...
On the edge of the Namib
We arrived at our campsite in the late afternoon, with the January sun still high in the sky and settled down with a cup of coffee before setting up camp. We were drinking in...
Bird of the week – Week 6 : Kori bustard
The most impressive thing about the Kori bustard is its size. It is big. Really big. Not as big as a Common ostrich, admittedly, but the difference is that the Kori can fly; in...
Bird of the week – Week 5 : African black oystercatcher
Bird of the week – Week 5 : African black oystercatcher The “Red List” records the African black oystercatcher as “Near threatened”, which means that it could be threatened with extinction fairly soon if...
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