SOUTHERN MASKED WEAVER

Photographed in Mhkuze, female Southern Masked Weaver

460        SOUTHERN MASKED WEAVER               Ploceus velatus

South Africa       (119)

Also known as African Masked Weaver. 16 cm. Found in wide range of habitat including scrubland, savanna, grassland, open woodland, inland wetlands and semi-desert areas, suburban gardens. Range over most of Southern Africa.

YELLOW HONEYEATER

459          YELLOW HONEYEATER                Lichenostomus flavus

Australia         (307)

17.5 cm. Found on watercourses, pandanus, paperbark, eucalypt woodlands, rainforest margins, tropical scrubs, mangroves, orchards, gardens. Ranges across ne Queensland from coast, Tablelands and across to Gulf, recently been seen further south to Bribie Island.

RED-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO

458         RED-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO               Calyptorhynchus banksii

Australia       (306)

50-64 cm. Found in tall open forests, woodlands, grasslands, scrubland, floodplains, river margins, wetlands, river red gums on watercourses. Range sw WA up as far as inland from Shark Bay, small pocket bottom of SA/Vic border, very central of Australia, across north from Kimberley, Top End, most of Queensland and across into NSW to Bourke.

Subspecies graptogyne, photographed at Little Desert NP, Victoria June 2016

CHESTNUT-RUMPED THORNBILL

457        CHESTNUT-RUMPED THORNBILL             Acanthiza uropygialis

Australia           (305)

10-11.5 cm. Range is widespread s. inland and w Australia, to s. coast w. from Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas (SA); absent from humid sw. WA. Found in drier woodlands, scrubs, thickets, saltbush, bluebush, lignum, open pastoral country, among dead trees and stumps

BLACK FALCON

Photographed near Coonamble, NSW December 2014

456         BLACK FALCON              Falco subniger   

Australia       (304)

Endemic to Australia mainland, found in most areas except driest se WA, w SA and sw NT. Found on plains, grassland, foothills, timbered watercourses, wetland environments, crops, occasionally over towns and cities. 45-55 cm, wingspan to 1.2 m.  

YELLOW-PLUMED HONEYEATER

Photographed on Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

455        YELLOW-PLUMED HONEYEATER              Lichenostomus ornatus

Australia          (303)

Also known as Mallee Honeyeater.  13-16 cm. Endemic to mainland Australia from western NSW and Victoria through SA to sw WA. Found in mallee and open woodland of temperate and semi-arid areas, also in freshwater wetlands. 

STRIPED KINGFISHER

454          STRIPED KINGFISHER             Halcyon chelicuti

South Africa           (118)

16-18 cm. Found in woodlands, thorn scrub, dry bush and open savanna, avoids intensively farmed land, and not found in dense forests. Range sub-Saharan Africa, in southern Africa in the ne half of the area.  extremely territorial and will drive off its own species as well as other birds.

BLACK-BELLIED BUSTARD

453      BLACK-BELLIED BUSTARD            Lissotis melanogaster

South Africa            (117)

Also known as Black-bellied Korhaan. 58-65 cm. Found in woodlands and tall open grasslands. Range sub-Saharan Africa, in southern Africa across north-eastern and eastern.

YELLOW BREASTED APALIS

452           YELLOW-BREASTED APALIS         Apalis flavida

South Africa              (116)

Found in subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowlands forest, dry savanna and moist savanna. In southern Africa ranges across n. and down the east. 12 cm.

SOUTHERN GREY-HEADED SPARROW

451          SOUTHERN GREY-HEADED SPARROW        Passer diffusus

South Africa          (115)

Found in savanna and woodlands. Range Angola and Zambia, spreading south into South Africa, now found over most of Southern Africa, where it is also kept as a cage bird. 15 cm.

YELLOW-THROATED PETRONIA

450           YELLOW-THROATED PETRONIA          Gymnoris superciliaris

South Africa            (114)

Found indoor woodland, savanna and riverine bush. 15 cm. Found across n. and down eastern third of Southern Africa.

RED-BILLED QUELEA

449           RED-BILLED QUELEA       Quelea quelea

South Africa          (113)

Range over most of Southern Africa except sw coast. Abundant in savanna and cereal fields. Usually found in large flocks, sometimes numbering millions. 12 cm.

FISCAL FLYCATCHER

448           FISCAL FLYCATCHER            Sigelus silens

South Africa              (112)

Resident breeder in Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland, and a vagrant to Nambia. Found in subtropical open woodland, dry savanna, shrubland and suburban gardens. 17-20 cm. 

PALE FLYCATCHER

447        PALE FLYCATCHER            Bradornis pallidus

South Africa           (111)

17 cm. Found in moist broadleaf woodland. Range ne third of Southern Africa.

COMMON SANDPIPER

446          COMMON SANDPIPER             Actitis hypoleucos

South Africa        (110)

18-20 cm. Breeds across most of temperate and sub-tropical Europe and Asia, and migrates to Africa, southern Asia and Australia in winter. It forages picking up insects, crustaceans and other invertebrates. In the Nukumanu Islands the sandpiper is called matakakoni, a taboo name when women and children are around because it means 'bird that walks a little, then copulates'; this is a reference to its head thrusting and tail-pumping as it forages.

PINK-BACKED PELICAN

445           PINK-BACKED PELICAN             Pelecanus rufescens

South Africa            (109)

Ranges across Africa, southern Arabia, southern India and possibly Madagascar. 125-155 cm, wingspan 2.15-2.9 m. Found in many aquatic habitats, but prefers quiet backwaters with shallow water, avoiding steep, vegetated lake banks; prefers freshwater lakes swamps, large slow-flowing rivers and seasonal pools, but also frequents seasonal floodplains. 

CRESTED SHRIKE-TIT

Photographed at Eubalong West, NSW, December 2014

444          CRESTED SHRIKE-TIT          Falcunculus frontatus

Australia              (302)

Found in rainforests, eucalyptus forests/woodlands; in inland se Australia river red gums on watercourses, especially saplings or young trees; also acacia, coastal tea tree, banksia or cypress pines, golf courses and gardens. Range sw WA, Top End, around Rockhampton area, a pocket near Adelaide and down east coast and inland from Tropic to SA border. At present there are three sub-species.

EUROPEAN HERRING GULL

443           EUROPEAN HERRING GULL          Larus argentatus

Britain          (14)

66 cm. One of best known gulls all along shores of western Europe; breeds n,w e and central Europe, Scandinavia and Baltic; some winter further south, some stay in British Isles, Iceland and North Sea. Abundant around inland rubbish dumps.

Herring Gull, juvenile

BLACK-HEADED GULL

Black-headed Gull in winter plumage.

442             BLACK-HEADED GULL          Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Britain          (13)

Breeds in much of Europe and Asia, also coastal eastern Canada, some birds also winter in ne North America, where it was formerly known as Common Black-headed Gull. 38-44 cm, 94-105 cm. The eggs of the Black-headed Gull are considered a delicacy in the UK and are eaten hard boiled. Cheer in Watershed Downs was a Black-headed Gull. In the 1990s a Black-headed Gull was sighted in Broome, Australia by Brian Kane