Bird of the week – Week 68 – Grey go-away bird
One of the common sounds to be heard in the dry savanna woodlands of southern Africa is a loud nasal “quare“, which, with a little stretch of the aural imagination may be interpreted as...
Category: Bird of the week
Bird of the week – Week 67 – Yellow-breasted apalis
An attractive little bird that is found in the wetter parts of southern Africa, and further north as far as Ethiopia, is the Yellow-breasted apalis. Although fairly common within the southern part of its...
Bird of the week – Week 66 : Black-headed heron
Large grey-coloured herons are a common sight at many dams, river estuaries, lagoons and other bodies of water within southern Africa and throughout most of Africa south of the Sahara. Unmistakable with their long...
Bird of the week – Week 65: Cape turtle dove
One of the most common of the collared (or ring-necked) doves found in the southern African region is the Cape turtle-dove and its distinctive call can be heard almost throughout the region. It is...
Bird of the week – Week 64 : Lark-like bunting
The Lark-like bunting is the least colourful of the buntings, being a rather nondescript buff colour with darker brown wings and tail and with a faint cinnamon tint to its under parts. As implied...
Bird of the week – Week 63: Great sparrow
At first glance the Great sparrow looks like a slightly overgrown House sparrow (Passer domesticus), being approximately sixteen cm in length, but a closer look will show a few differences that distinguish the two...
Bird of the week – Week 62: Yellow-billed stork
Yellow-billed storks are not normally regarded as gregarious birds, and usually tend to solitude, being found singly or in pairs at the edges of dams, rivers and other areas of shallow marshy water. However,...
Bird of the week – Week 61 : Speckled mousebird
Mousebirds are quite common in most parts of southern Africa, and the most common type in the eastern part of the region is the Speckled mousebird. Its range is limited to the wetter eastern...
Bird of the week – Week 60: Grey-backed camaroptera
The Grey-backed camaroptera was previously known as the Grey-backed bleating warbler, a descriptive name for the bleating alarm call of this little bird, which is not unlike the bleating of a lamb. Very vocal,...
Bird of the week – Week 59: Greater kestrel
The Greater kestrel is, as one would expect from its name, the largest of the kestrels found in the southern African region, being some 37 cm in length. The sexes are alike in plumage,...
Bird of the week – Week 58: Ashy tit
The Ashy tit is a small bird, the adults just 15 cm in length, and is not very common within its chosen range. To come across one as it hops through the dense foliage...
Bird of the week – Week 57: Grey heron
Large grey herons are a common sight at many dams, rivers estuaries, lagoons and other bodies of water within southern Africa. Unmistakable with their long necks, long legs and dagger-like beaks, the Grey heron...
Bird of the week – Week 56: Common whimbrel
The Common whimbrel is one of the many migrants who wing their way over vast distances to visit the shores of the southern African region during the summer. They arrive from the northern hemisphere...
Bird of the week – Week 55: Diderick cuckoo
At that time of the year when spring is moving towards summer, a new bird call, familiar from last year, is heard with growing frequency throughout most of southern Africa, excluding the really arid...
Bird of the week – Week 54: Cape glossy starling
A Cape glossy starling seen in bright sunlight reflects a particularly striking colour – an iridescent dark blue that shimmers vividly as the bird moves and the sun dances off its feathers. If it...
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