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Photos courtesy of Mosetlha Bush Camp A dusty-red road leads me through Marico bushveld deeper into the 750 square kilometers large wilderness of the Madikwe Game Reserve – the 4th largest reserve in SouthAfrica, home to 350 bird and 66 mammal species, some 4 hours’ drive from Johannesburg.
One in November 2018 included a one-day birding trip in the Drakensberg area, a mountain range in the border area between SouthAfrica and Lesotho. Originally restricted to Africa, it is now also well-established in parts of Europe and SouthAfrica. I was vaguely curious about the family name mousebird.
St Lucia is a small town on the Southeastern coast of SouthAfrica. One of the most interesting aspects of watching birds in Africa is to see different members of bird families that I already know from China. Different bird families, I know. The Brown-hooded Kingfisher is one of them.
The history of Tembe Elephant Park in SouthAfrica is a slightly unusual one. It is a good place for South African birders, as several species are found here and nowhere else in SouthAfrica, and it holds a small number of endemics that it shares with the Mozambique lowlands.
I’ve not made spectacular progress writing up my trip to Africa earlier this year, so perhaps I should get on that. So instead let’s talk about SouthAfrica’s best kept birding secret (at least outside of the country) Wakkerstroom. Possibly the prettiest member of the family to my mind.
My home country of SouthAfrica can only be described as a birding paradise! The Cape Rockjumper (here a female) is best sought at Rooiels, on the east coast of SouthAfrica, north of Cape Town. They have been considered sunbirds, Australasian honeyeaters and thrushes before being placed in their own family, Promeropidae.
This was tough because this excluded species that occur in two countries within SouthAfrica’s geographical area, Lesotho and Swaziland. I then had a list of 20 or so favorites and decided that, in order to get down to 10 birds, each bird needs to be in a different family. This is what came up: 1. This is what came up: 1.
A dusty-red road leads me through Marico bushveld deeper into the 750 square kilometers large wilderness of the Madikwe Game Reserve – the 4th largest reserve in SouthAfrica, home to 350 bird and 66 mammal species, some 4 hours’ drive from Johannesburg. Trips Mammals SouthAfrica'
Before self-rule it was administered by SouthAfrica and known as South-West Africa. After a brutal colonization that included genocidal campaigns against the Herero (80% killed) and Nama (50% killed) tribes, the Germans lost control when SouthAfrica invaded soon after the declaration of the First World War.
At vulture family gatherings, it is always a bit of a bother for the organizers to cater to the needs of the Palm Nut Vulture. It can have up to 8000 pieces and takes 3 to 6 weeks to complete” ( source ). The name is dutch-german for hammerhead. If you are a hammerhead, does everything look like a nail to you?
A family motel and passion for responsible ecotourism brought her home to the Oregon Coast where she and her husband, Erik, adventure and record a podcast ( Hannah and Erik Go Birding ), created in an effort to inspire others to get out and bird. It is an extremely popular fundraising project with an almost cult-like following.
The losing streak of the bulbul family continues with some other species such as the … … Dark-capped Bulbul (Drakensberg area, SouthAfrica; eBird: “a rather nondescript thrush-sized brown bird”) … … White-eared Bulbul (Mumbai, eBird: “a dull gray-brown bulbul). Lucia, SouthAfrica).
And at last the family Malaconotidae will show up on a 10,000 Birds search. The Malaconotidae are Bush-Shrikes, a family endemic to the continent of Africa and were split from the Laniidae Shrikes after it was shown that they were sufficiently different to warrant a new branch. Try it for yourselves; Bokmakierie.
The wonderful family Meropidae contains 27 dazzling species, of which Africa is endowed with no less than 20 species, the balance occurring across Asia and with one as far afield as Australia. They are usually found in small family groups perched atop bushes or short trees, from whence they sally out to catch their prey.
The Crested Barbet (Kruger Park, SouthAfrica) looks a bit like a pointillist painting gone wrong. Lucia, SouthAfrica) will be your favorite. That Smith Family is so depressing”. Future generations of birdcage designers will probably adapt the dimensions of the wire. Pernice Brothers).
The Bearded Woodpecker (Mkuze, SouthAfrica) does not really look any more bearded than many other woodpeckers. The name of the Cardinal Woodpecker (Letaba, SouthAfrica) is misleading, as not all of them are Catholic or even cardinals. It is the most widespread woodpecker in Africa, claims the HBW. ”).
I feel that like most bird families (with the obvious exception of pheasants), buntings are somewhat underrated. The Little Bunting – as the name suggests – is probably the cutest of the family. I am particularly fond of Tristam`s Bunting – maybe the smartest-looking of the family. In other words, they are my kind of birds.
Fynbos is the distinctive vegetation type of the Cape region of SouthAfrica. The Southern Double-collared Sunbird, Cinnyris chalybeus, flourishes amongst the fynbos but, unlike some of its close family, is not restricted to this habitat. It is characterised by plant communities such as Ericas, Aloes and Proteas.
Madikwe , in SouthAfrica, wasn’t a site of importance before it came into existence. And so SouthAfrica’s fifth largest park came to be (it’s worth remembering that its largest park, Kruger, is the size of Israel) on marginal land that no one in particular could do much with. But they are very cute!
I don’t think I’ve ever done a post on my home patch of Cape Town, SouthAfrica. The little seaside village of Rooiels is famed for being a wonderful location to pick up some choice South African endemics but it is also one of the most beautiful spots in the Cape.
There are few families of birds where despite a cosmopolitan distribution I’m always so pleased to see any species of the family. The species is a common one, found from the Gambia to Somalia and from the Sudan to SouthAfrica. Who doesn’t love a good owl? owls aren’t rare, but they are seldom easy.
This week’s wine is a very easy-drinking white blend from the South African winery A.A. Badenhorst Family Wines. Badenhorst Family Wines – The Curator White Blend (2016) appeared first on 10,000 Birds. It’s going to be a pretty easy post for us, too, as there’s not a whole lot going on here bird-wise to discuss. (By
Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. They are also attracted by fires and can gather in thousands.
mi (almost exactly the same size as Indiana), it is one of the smaller provinces of SouthAfrica, but is the second most densely populated with over 10 million inhabitants. The famous Verreaux family who made several expeditions into the province through the 1820’s and 1830’s procuring specimens for rich collectors.
This species is a southern African endemic, restricted to, but fortunately not uncommon, in dry woodland and sand forest habitats of northern Zululand, Swaziland, scattered pockets of north-eastern SouthAfrica and southern Mozambique. Once their soft trilling call is learnt, they are easily detected.
Growing up within an hour of one of the world’s premier shorebird destinations -- West Coast National Park in SouthAfrica -- helped for sure. Filming the plovers of Estero Lagoon Plovers are a significant part of the shorebird family, comprising 66 species worldwide. Firstly, shorebirds present a significant ID challenge.
I did that with Peacocks & Picathartes – Reflections on Africa’s birdlife (published by Penguin Random House SouthAfrica ). In case you didn’t know, yes, there is an indigenous peacock living in Africa, the Congo Peafowl. So, could sunbirds actually have evolved in Indomalaya and spread west into Africa?”
True geese belong to the tribe or sub-family Anserini within the larger family Anatidae that encompasses ducks, geese and swans. And the Magpie Geese of the same country are believed to be neither ducks nor geese nor swans and are now placed within their own family Anseranatidae.
Earlier this year, Duncan wrote a charming piece about Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens in Cape Town, SouthAfrica. Promerops is a Southern African endemic family with the Cape Sugarbird, Promerops cafer , restricted to the very southern tip of the continent. It must be difficult maintaining their dignity some days.
By age 2 she could identify over 10 species of birds in our Johannesburg, SouthAfrica, yard by call alone. Astounding because she picked up birding before she could speak and surprising because this ability was definitely not inherited from anyone in my family, myself included. And perhaps 20 others by sight.
Prime destinations for seeing African Elephant in the wild include Botswana, Namibia, SouthAfrica, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Uganda. Black Rhinos are best sought in SouthAfrica, Namibia and Tanzania. Lions are most easily found in SouthAfrica, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
In many ways the weaver family is for Africa are similar beasts to the pseudowarblers of North America (sometimes called wood-warblers). In the meantime, in order to rectify this I present some images of the Village Weaver, a widespread African species that ranges from Senegal to Ethiopia and down to SouthAfrica.
Given that they are a family of obscure deepwater whales that are very hard to see, I would imagine this is a contender for one that will never leave my list. Trips albatrosses bucket lists SouthAfrica wish lists' Given that I live on a nearby island I should really make the time to go and visit. A beaked whale.
This Cape Francolin was raising a family less than a hundred metres from the main gate. Birding Cape Town SouthAfrica Urban Birding' When you stop to look at them, Helmeted Guineafowl are odd looking birds. This Egyptian Goose has perfected his smoldering come hither look. Is this a African Dusky Flycatcher? I don’t know.
But, unlike most books focused on a bird family, this one is organized geographically. Each chapter focuses on a specific geographic area of penguin population: (1) Antarctica, (2) South Georgia, (3) Falkland Islands, (4) SouthAfrica and Tristan de Cunha, (5) New Zealand and Australia, (6) South America and Galapagos.
A couple of years ago Adam posted a story on this site that so entranced me that when I went to SouthAfrica a bit over a year ago the location he described was top of my bucket list. They are closely related to the oddball Rockfowl of Western Africa, and live in family groups, led by a breeding pair, in Southern Africa.
Last week, a good friend, Dan Weisz gave me a tip on the location of a family of Burrowing Owls that were extremely easy to access. I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I had sitting and watching the antics of this family of Burrowing Owls. These are the Great Horned Owl fledglings that arrived in our RV Park a few days ago.
The Peru Birding Rally Challenge is a joint initiative between PromPeru and the Inkaterra Family of hotels. The idea is to hold the event bi-annually, once a year in the south of Peru and once in the North. In early December of 2012 we had the opportunity to cover this hard-core rally in the south of Peru.
I found out on my second day in Mkuze, a great game reserve in SouthAfrica, earlier this year when on my first dark night, poor visibility, uneven ground and unsteady footing resulted in a twisted ankle and a day in camp keeping weight off it. Long-billed Crombecs are members of the African warbler family.
Early starts are the rule when monitoring endagered species in Mkuze Game Reserve, in SouthAfrica, but there’s a particular urgency to this morning’s start. Like other social animals, his family connections were keeping him alive, as his family was feeding him.
Mousebirds are a uniquely African family and they really brought it home to me that I was back in Africa after a decade. Another group that sings Africa to me are the antelopes. Trips hotel KwaZulu Natal Natal SouthAfrica' Common Fiscal using a sculpture as a perch to watch for prey.
We saw a smaller member of the potoo family, Northern Potoo , Nyctibius jamaicensis , at Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, boating and birding the Salado River. I had seen Thick-Knees in SouthAfrica, but I was very excited to see this species, which is the only member of its family found in Central America.
Participating teams include the E-Birders from Cornell University, the Tigrisomas from Louisiana State University, the Forest Falcons from Great Britain, the Zululanders from SouthAfrica, Team Tramuntana from Spain, and the Ararajubas from Brazil. Photo: Alex Duran.
For example, I was going to add “no tail” to the list of features above, what all frogs share, when I remembered that there are indeed a small family of Tailed frogs, four species in New Zealand and two in North America (though, the tails are quite tiny). But, within the frog group there is a tremendous range of diversity.
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