Bird of the week #63: Hoopoe

Bird of the week

Hoepoe in Afrikaans

Hoopoes are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive “crown” of feathers which can be raised or lowered at will. Three living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many years all of the extant species were lumped as a single species—Upupa epops. In fact, some taxonomists still consider all three species conspecific. Some authorities also keep the African and Eurasian hoopoe together but split the Madagascar hoopoe. The Eurasian hoopoe is common in its range and has a large population, so it is evaluated as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However, their numbers are declining in Western Europe. Conversely, the hoopoe has been increasing in numbers at the tip of the South Sinai, Sharm el-Sheikh. There are dozens of nesting pairs that remain resident all year round.

Formerly considered a single species, the hoopoe has been split into three separate species: the Eurasian hoopoe, Madagascar hoopoe and the resident African hoopoe. One accepted separate species, the Saint Helena hoopoe, lived on the island of St Helena but became extinct in the 16th century, presumably due to introduced species, Wikipedia

Bird of the week #62: Cape Wagtail

Birds of the week

Other common names: Gewone Kwikkie (Afrikaans); Umcelu (Xhosa); umVemve (Zulu); Bergeronnette du Cap (French); Kapstelze (German).

The Cape wagtail (Motacilla capensis), also known as Wells’s wagtail, is a small insectivorous bird which is widespread in southern Africa. It frequents water’s edge, lawns and gardens. It is a mostly resident, territorial species, but has been known to undertake limited altitudinal migration or form flocks outside of the breeding season. Like other wagtails they are passerinebirds of the family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws. Wikipedia

Cape Wagtail in my garden

Cape wagtails are found in eastern and southern Africa from Uganda, the eastern DRCongo and Kenya, through Zambia and Angola to southern Africa, south to the Western Cape and the Cape of Good Hope.

Cape wagtails can be found in almost any habitat that has open ground adjacent to water, and also along the rocky coastline, in farms, villages, cultivated land, parks, gardens and urban centres.

Kwikkie (Cape wagtail) -Don’t look at me!

The Cape wagtail is a monogamous, territorial solitary nester, and breeding pairs stay together over a number of breeding seasons. Like many territorial birds, the males will fiercely attack their own reflection when seen in mirrors or windows. The nest is built by both sexes and consists of a cup made of a wide range of materials, both natural and artificial, which is lined with hair, rootlets, wool and feathers. The nest is situated in a recess within a steep bank, tree, or bush, or in a man-made location such as a hole in a wall, a pot plant, or a bridge. It breeds all year round but, egg-laying peaks from July until December (mid-winter to early summer). Between one and five eggs are laid, which both parents take turns incubating for 13–15 days. Once hatched, the chicks are fed by both parents, until they leave the nest after 14–18 days. Once fledged, the adults continue to feed them for another 20–25 days, and the young become fully independent around 44 days – 60 days after fledging.

Bird of the week #61: Spoonbill

Birds of the week

Spoonbills are a genus, Platalea, of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name Platalea derives from Ancient Greek and means “broad”, referring to the distinctive shape of the bill. Six species are recognised, which although usually placed in a single genus have sometimes been split into three genera.

All spoonbills have large, flat, spatulate bills and feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly opened bill from side to side. The moment any small aquatic creature touches the inside of the bill—an insect, crustacean, or tiny fish—it is snapped shut. Spoonbills generally prefer fresh water to salt but are found in both environments. They need to feed many hours each day. Wikipedia

Spoonbill at the Berg River Estuary on a windy day.

Bird of the week #58: Curlew Sandpiper

Bird of the week

The Curlew Sandpiper – Krombekstrandloper in Afrikaans occurs at suitable wetlands throughout southern Africa, even here in Velddrif at the Bergriver estuary.

Curlew Sandpiper Krombekstrandloper

Bird of the week #56: Vleitinktinkie

Bird of the week

Levaillant’s cisticola (Cisticola tinniens), also known as the tinkling cisticola, or Vleitinktinkie in Afrikaans, is a small passerine bird which is native to marshlands in the uplands of Africa, southwards of the equator.

Levaillant’s cisticola is a small, 12–15 cm long, dull-coloured bird with a longish tail and a reddish cap. The upperparts of the breeding adult are grey, heavily streaked with black, and with a rufous panel in the folded wing. The supercilium, face and underparts are buffy white and the tail is russet brown. The short straight bill is blackish-brown with a pinkish base, and the feet and legs are pinkish-brown. The eye is light brown. Non-breeding adults are browner-backed, and juvenile birds have yellower underparts. The calls include a musical chrip-trrrup-trreee, a wailing tee tee tee and harsh alarm notes.

The cisticola is a resident breeder in eastern Africa from Kenya to eastern South Africa. It is common in reedbeds, sedges, rank grass, and similar wet habitats usually near rivers or dams. Wikipedia

Pencil crayon drawing

Bird of the week #55: Bontkiewiet

Bird of the week

The blacksmith lapwing or blacksmith plover (Vanellus armatus) is a lapwing species that occurs commonly from Kenya through central Tanzania to southern and southwestern Africa. The name derives from the repeated metallic ‘tink, tink, tink’ alarm call, which suggests a blacksmith’s hammer striking an anvil.

Photo not very good, but it’s the best I could do.

The blacksmith lapwing occurs in association with wetlands of all sizes. Even very small damp areas caused by a spilling water trough can attract them. In South Africa they are most numerous in the mesic ( containing a moderate amount of moisture) grassland region, less so in higher-rainfall grasslands.

Blacksmith lapwings are very boldly patterned in black, grey and white, possibly warning colours to predators. It is one of five lapwing species (two African, one Asian and two Neotropical) that share the characteristics of red eyes and a bold pied plumage. Wikipedia

Blacksmith Lapwing, Blacksmith Plover or Bontkiewiet

Bird of the week #54: Southern Double- collared Sunbird

Bird of the week

A tiny Southern Double- collared Sunbird

The southern double-collared sunbird or lesser double-collared sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus) is a small passerine bird which breeds in southern Africa.

This sunbird is common in gardens, fynbos, forests and coastal scrub. The southern double-collared sunbird breeds from April to December, depending on region. The closed oval nest is constructed from grass, lichen and other plant material, bound together with spider webs. It has a side entrance which sometimes has a porch, and is lined with wool, plant down and feathers.

The southern double-collared sunbird is 12 cm long. The adult male has a glossy, metallic green head, throat, upper breast and back. It has a brilliant red band across the chest, separated from the green breast by a narrow metallic blue band. The rest of the underparts are whitish. When displaying, yellow feather tufts can be seen on the shoulders. As with other sunbirds the bill is long and decurved. The bill, legs and feet are black. The eye is dark brown. The male can be distinguished from the similar greater double-collared sunbird by its smaller size, narrower red chest band and shorter bill.

The female southern double-collared sunbird has brown upperparts and yellowish-grey underparts. The juvenile resembles the female. Wikipedia

Southern Double-Collared Sunbird in my garden

Southern Double-Collared Sunbird

Double Collard Sunbird

Southern Double collared Sunbird

Bird of the week #53: Crowned Plover

Bird of the week

Crowned Lapwing or Crowned Plover

The crowned lapwing (Vanellus coronatus), or crowned plover, is a bird of the lapwing subfamily that occurs contiguously from the Red Sea coast of Somalia to southern and southwestern Africa. It is an adaptable and numerous species, with bold and noisy habits. Wikipedia

The crowned lapwing is easily recognized by its combination of brown and white colours, with most tellingly, a black crown intersected by an annular white halo. Adults are noisy and conspicuous.

Their diet consists of a variety of insects, but termites and ants form an important component. These insects are often extracted from the dung of large mammals. They feed mainly by surface pecking as opposed to digging

Crowned Lapwing – Kroon Kiewiet in Afrikaans

Crowned Lapwing

Bird of the week #52: White-breasted Cormorant

Bird of the week

The white-breasted cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus) is much like the widespread great cormorant and if not a regional variant of the same species, is at least very closely related. It is distinguished from other forms of the great cormorant by its white breast and by the fact that subpopulations are freshwater birds. Phalacrocorax lucidus is not to be confused with the smaller and very different endemic South Australian black-faced cormorant, which also is sometimes called the white-breasted cormorant. Wikipedia

African Darter and a White-breasted Cormorant

As its name suggests, the 80–100 centimetres (31–39 in) long white-breasted cormorant has a white neck and breast when adult, and the white area tends to increase as the bird becomes more mature. In other respects it is a large cormorant generally resembling the great cormorant.

White-breasted Cormorants

The white-breasted cormorant is the only form of great cormorant found in Sub-Saharan Africa, the only form that has strictly freshwater populations and the only form with a white breast and throat.

Bird of the week #51: African Darter

Bird of the week

The African darter (Anhinga rufa), sometimes called the snakebird (slangnek voel in Afrikaans), is a water bird of sub-Saharan Africa and Iraq.

Slangnek voel

It often swims with only the neck above water, hence the common name snakebird. This, too, is a habit shared with the other anhingas. It feeds on fish, which it catches by diving.

Unlike many other waterbirds the feathers of the African darter do not contain any oil and are therefore not waterproof. Because of this, the bird is less positively buoyant and its diving capabilities are enhanced. After diving for fish, the feathers can become waterlogged. In order to be able to fly and maintain heat insulation, it needs to dry its feathers. Thus the African darter is often seen sitting along the waterside spreading its wings and drying its feathers in the wind and the sun along with cormorants, which may share its habitat.

African Darter