Bird of the week – Week 47: Chestnut-vented tit-babbler
Walking through the veld anywhere in Namibia or in the semi-arid western parts of South Africa it is not unusual to be attracted to a melodious and bubbling song issuing from the depths of...
Category: Birding
Bird of the Week – Week 46 : Southern carmine bee-eater
Carmine is the name of the red dye that was originally obtained from the cochineal beetle; described as the colour of tomatoes or rubies. Or blood. The name of a food dye used to...
Bird of the week – Week 45: Yellow-bellied greenbul
The Yellow-bellied greenbul is an attractive little bird that can sometimes become quite friendly and used to the presence of people; several times we have been visited by these birds while camping in northern...
Bird of the week – Week 44 : Orange River francolin
The four francolins of the genus Scleroptila, found mainly in the grassland areas of southern Africa, are a confusingly similar group, with their white throats and brown speckled plumage. There are differences, however, and...
Bird of the week – Week 43: Bokmakierie
The call of the Bokmakierie is a delight to hear. The paired birds almost invariably call in duet and have quite an extensive repertoire, but often containing a bok, bok, bok followed by a...
Bird of the week – Week 42 : African mourning dove
Southern Africa is blessed with a great variety of doves and pigeons; around fourteen different species are resident here. Some are common and widespread throughout the region, others not. One of those that is...
Bird of the week – Week 41 : African Jacana
In Afrikaans it has the delightful name of “Grootlangtoon” which can be translated as “Big long toe”. This is wonderfully descriptive of a bird that has toes so long that they trail behind the...
Bird of the week – Week 40 : African pied wagtail
A familiar sound along many of the waterways of southern Africa is the sustained “tsip weet-weet” of the African pied wagtail, a song that is easily recognized once initially identified. As is the bird...
Bird of the week – Week 39 : Bateleur
When the ruins of Great Zimbabwe were discovered by the first European adventurers in the early 16th century, and more fully investigated in the 19th century, one of the intriguing discoveries made amongst the...
Bird of the week – Week 38 : Madagascar bee-eater
There is a population of Madagascar bee-eaters that arrives in the north-western corner of Namibia and neighbouring southern Angola around September each year to breed. These birds stay for just four or five months...
Bird of the week – Week 37 : Dusky sunbird
One of the fairly common avian residents of the arid western parts of Southern Africa is a small sunbird, just about 11 cm in length, which is busily active even in the midday heat,...
Bird of the week – Week 36 : Black-shouldered kite
Drive down almost any country road in Southern Africa and you are bound to see a small grey and white raptor sitting in a slightly hunched position and looking somewhat gull-like, on a roadside...
Bird of the week – Week 35 : Abdim’s stork
Let’s be honest. The Abdim’s stork is not a beautiful bird. Not as immediately repulsive as the Marabou stork, perhaps, but still not a beautiful bird. It is quite graceful in flight, but on...
Bird of the week – Week 34 : Rosy-faced lovebird
I think that many people will agree that the Rosy-faced lovebird is one of the most beautiful birds to be found in Namibia. Unfortunately, as with many small birds, their beauty has resulted in...
Bird of the week – Week 33 : Laughing dove
The first bird that I photographed when I got a new camera was a Laughing dove. This is not unusual as the Laughing dove is extremely common and this particular specimen was visiting a...
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