AFRICAN SPOONBILL

364          AFRICAN SPOONBILL           Platalea alba

South Africa        (57)

Widespread across Africa and Madagascar. Lives in marshy wetlands with some open shallow water.

WHITE-FACED WHISTLING DUCK

363            WHITE-FACED WHISTLING DUCK             Dendrocygna viduata

South Africa         (56)

Breeds in sub-Saharan Afica and much of South America.

WHITE-FRONTED BEE-EATER

362            WHITE-FRONTED BEE-EATER           Merops bullockoides

South Africa            (55)

Widely distributed in sub-equatorial Africa. Habitat is vast savannah region, commonly open country near gullies. Live in clan colonies.

LITTLE BEE-EATER

361             LITTLE BEE-EATER            Merops pusillus

South Africa                (54)

Ranges over much of sub-Saharan Africa. 15-17 cm. Found in open country  with bushes, preferably near water.

LILAC-BREASTED ROLLER

360       LILAC-BREASTED ROLLER          Coracias caudatus

South Africa              (53)

Ranges widely in sub-Saharan Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsular. Found in open woodlands and savanna, avoids treeless places.

COMMON BULBUL

359            COMMON BULBUL               Pycnonotus barbatus

South Africa          (52)

Also known as Black-eyed Bulbul, and Common Garden Bulbul. Ranges over much of Africa. Found in woodlands, coastal bush, forest edges, riverine bush, montane scrub, mixed farming areas, parks and gardens..

GREY-HEADED GULL

358           GREY-HEADED GULL            Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus

South Africa             (51)

Also known as the Grey-hooded Gull. Breeds in South America and Africa south of the Sahara. Breeds large colonies in roadbeds and marshes. Found in coastal or estuarine areas, but rarely at sea. 42 cm.

AFRICAN JACANA

357           AFRICAN JACANA                Actophilornis africanus

South Africa         (50)

30 cm. Found in sub-Saharan Africa. This bird has unusual breeding system. It is polyandrous, the female has a harem. She mates and lays eggs. The male cares for these eggs and the chicks when hatched. He can pick up the chicks under his wings to move them around. She may lay a brood of eggs for other males.

RED-WINGED STARLING

356         RED-WINGED STARLING              Onychognathus morio

South Africa      (49)

Known in Afrikaans as the rooivlerkspreeu. Range down eastern Africa from Ethiopia to the Cape in South Africa. 27-30 cm. Found in many habitats, including forest, savannah, grassland, wetland, fynbos, farmland and commercial plantations, as well as urban environments.

GREY WAXBILL

355            GREY WAXBILL            Estrilda perreini

South Africa            (48)

Also known as Black-tailed Waxbill. Ranges over wetter land of southern Africa, in particuar eastern coastal strip. Found in subtropical/tropical (lowland) moist shrublands.

COMMON WAXBILL

354              COMMON WAXBILL           Estrilda astrild

South Africa         (47)

Also known as the St Helena Waxbill. 11 cm. Native to sub-Saharan Africa but has been introduced to many other regions of the world, popular cage bird. Found in open country with long grass and rank vegetation, often near water in marshes and in reeds, can be tame and found in parks and gardens.

LESSER STRIPED SWALLOW

253             LESSER STRIPED SWALLOW         Cecropis abyssinica

South Africa           (46)

15-19 cm. Found in wooded, mainly lowland habitats, also commonly found around human habitats. Range sub-Saharan Africa from Sierra Leone and southern Sudan into eastern South Africa.

BROWN SNAKE-EAGLE

Photographed in the act of devouring a large snake at iMfolosi, South Africa

352         BROWN SNAKE-EAGLE          Circaetus cinereus

South Africa            (45)

Ranges across southern and eastern Africa. Feeds mainly on snakes, including venemous snakes, also lizards and all mammals. Only lays one egg per year, lives 6 to 7 years. 60-70 cm.

COMMON MOORHEN

351            COMMON MOORHEN       Gallinule chloropus

South Africa           (44)

Also known as the Swamp Chicken. Found well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. Ranges from NW Europe to North Africa and eastward to Siberia and from humid regions of Indian sub-continent and SE Asia to Japan. 30-38 cm.

SPECKLED MOUSEBIRD

350           SPECKLED MOUSEBIRD             Colius striatus

South Africa            (43)

35 cm. Ranges from Cameroon east to Eritrea and Ethiopia, south through eastern Africa to southern South Africa. Found in many habitat, except rainforest and the more arid areas. Often seen in urban areas.

BLACK-WINGED KITE

349           BLACK-WINGED KITE       Elanus caeruleus

South Africa          (42)

Also known as Black-shouldered Kite, once considered as part of one species with Australian Black-shouldered Kite and the White-tailed Kite of North and South America. Ranges open land and semi-desert in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia, and established in Spain and Portugal, expanding in southern Europe. 

AFRICAN OPENBILL

348           AFRICAN OPENBILL             Anastomus lamelligerus

South Africa          (41)

74-90 cm. Ranges across the ne of southern Africa and further north. Found at freshwater lakes and dams. Feeds mainly on freshwater snails.