Bird of the Week – Week 113 – South African shelduck
The South African shelduck is a quite a large, goose-like member of the duck family, with a length of approximately 64 cm. The males are slightly bigger than the females and the sexes differ...
Category: Bird of the week
Bird of the Week – Week 112 – Pin-tailed whydah
The Pin-tailed whydah is resident throughout most of Africa south of the Sahara and is quite widespread in southern Africa, absent only from most of Botswana and from the coastal desert of Namibia. Its...
Bird of the Week – Week 111 – Orange River white-eye
The common Afrikaans name for the Orange River white-eye is the “Gariep glasogie”, which translates as the “Gariep glass-eye”. (The Gariep was the original Nama name for the Orange River, a name which is...
The Bird of the Week – Week 110 – Cape crow
The Cape crow is widespread and fairly common throughout the southern African region; the only all black crow that is native to the region. The sexes of these crows are alike in both size...
Bird of the Week – Week 109 – Southern pale chanting goshawk
A very common sight along the quieter roads of Namibia, Botswana and more arid western parts of South Africa, is a slender, mostly grey raptor with a very upright stance perched on a telephone...
Bird of the Week – Week 108 – Greater flamingo
As its name would suggest, the Greater flamingo is the largest of the flamingoes, with a length of around 150 cm. They are very distinctive birds and are unlikely to be confused with any...
Bird of the Week – Week 107 – Arrow-marked babbler
Arrow-marked babblers, like the other babblers in the region, are usually heard before they are seen. Noisy birds, they have a harsh chatter, a bubbling “na, na, na…” often uttered by many birds at...
Bird of the Week – Week 106 – Green-winged pytilia
The Green-winged pytilia is a very attractive little finch with a length of about 13 cm. It is quite common throughout Africa south of the Sahara, although within the southern African region it is...
Bird of the Week – Week 105 – Common ostrich
The Common ostrich is not likely to be confused with any other bird in the southern African region. Weighing in at up to 130 kg and with a length of up to 2,7 m...
Bird of the Week – Week 104 – Mountain wheatear
Let’s concede that “Wheatear” is a strange name for a bird! Very odd. Apparently the name owes its derivation to neither wheat nor ears, but to the Old English words for “white rump”, or...
The Bird of the Week – Week 103 – Dark-capped bulbul
The Dark-capped bulbul used to be known as the Black-eyed bulbul, which made a lot of sense as it is really only the colour of the eyes and the eye-rings that distinguishes it from...
Bird of the Week – Week 102 – African paradise-flycatcher
The African paradise- flycatcher is one of the most striking of the flycatchers found in the southern African region, not just because of its distinctive chestnut colouring that sets it apart from the other...
The Bird of the Week – Week 101 – Meve’s starling
In the north of Namibia there are several long-tailed, glossy starlings, one of the most striking being the Meve’s starling. This impressive bird has a very long, tapered tail that distinguishes it from the...
Bird of the Week – Week 100 – African green pigeon
It is always a delight to see an African green pigeon. Not because they are particularly rare, but because they are the only green pigeons in the southern African region and their grey and...
Bird of the Week – Week 99 – Malachite kingfisher
The Malachite kingfisher is one of the smallest of the kingfishers found in the southern African region and is also one of the most beautiful. Its range includes most of Africa south of the...
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