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Originally a hunting term, the Big Five were the most dangerous and prized targets of the great white hunters on safari. Elephant The big – two species of elephant are now recognized as occuring in Africa, the smaller and more secretive Forest Elephant and the larger, more familiar African or Bush Elephant.
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. We have both resident and migratory species, and this post will briefly discuss each of the 20 species of African bee-eaters.
Kibale National Park, in the west of the Central African nation of Uganda, is home to a 13 primate species, from Common Chimpanzees to bush-babies. The species has a reputation for being an obligate leaf eater, but actually has a wider diet than that, although leaves certainly form a large part of the diet.
On my 21-day Kenyan safaris we reckoned to find around 600 species of birds and around 60 mammals, both impressive totals. One of my most memorable outings was a night-time game drive in Kenya when we saw an aardvark and a zorilla, so we ticked off both the first mammal in the field guide’s index, and the last.
We worship birds, we hunt birds, we protect birds, and, yes, we eat birds. Additional back of the book material includes a Glossary, Biographical Details, a Select Bibliography, Notes, Credits, an Index to Species and a General Index. The beautiful Bee-eater family, with its 26 species, is covered in a little less than two pages.
In my younger days I always kept year lists: my best ever year was 1986, when I topped the 1,000 mark thanks to trips to Australia, Kenya and various European destinations. My British total was a mere 172 species – not bad, but not very good. Every one of my 171 species was a bird that I found myself.
More than 150 bird species are known to have become extinct over the past 500 years, and many more are estimated to have been driven to extinction before they became known to science. The Gray Crowned-Crane is a new addition to the list of the world’s Endangered species, creeping up a category from Vulnerable.
In the Neotropics the barbets have been placed into two families, the original Capitonidae (New World Barbets) with 14 species and Semnornithidae (Toucan Barbets) with 2 species (Toucan and Prong-billed Barbet). Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird is a woodland species that occurs widely through Africa. Benson to collect birds.
Its great diversity of habitats hosts an incredible bird count of over 900 species, including Africa’s 2nd highest list of endemics and near-endemics (after South Africa). Ethiopia, a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa, has firmly established itself as one of Africa’s top birding destinations. Yellow-billed Stork.
Shockingly, the Ashy-throated Parrotbill apparently is a species heavily hunted for bird fighting in Guizhou Province, China ( source ). If being hunted by evil humans was not enough, Ashy-throated Parrotbills are also hosts of the parasitic Common Cuckoo. Unfortunately, some other species do not seem to listen to the wren much.
I wrote previously about the prolific birding that is to be had in the small town of Baringo, Kenya. Drifting slower and looking closer, we observed a tiny Malachite Kingfisher hunting in the sheltered shallows. It was even pumping its tail, much like the New World species I am accustomed to. Squacco Heron. Common Sandpiper.
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