On our second evening we had a visitor that looked like a cat though not a cat at all.
The rusty-spotted or large-spotted genet (Genetta maculata) is a member of the Viverridae family that includes civet cats, none of which are felines.
Genets are excellent climbers so this one must have clambered up the deck poles in the dark to wait at the edge of the dining area for a handout. He has an omnivorous diet that includes rodents, doves, skinks, spiders, eggs, fruits, berries and seeds so our buffet certainly had something to tempt him.
Fortunately for everyone our genet was shy and ran to hide if anyone approached. He always crouched low.
If he’d stood up to his full height we would have realized he was not a cat. (Photo from Wikimedia)
Crows are a favorite theme of mine so I was pleased that we encountered Africa’s most common crow at nearly every birding site on our trip in southern Africa. We saw only one Corvus species, the pied crow (Corvus albus). He wears a white vest.
Pied crows are intermediate in size between crows and ravens and are closely enough related to Africa’s dwarf raven, the Somali crow, that they can hybridize. However their behavior is closer to that of American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos).
The main difference between pied and American crows appears to be that pied crows don’t migrate and are less gregarious. As far as I know they never aggregate into huge flocks.
Today I’m still in transit, flying home from southern Africa on a trip begun yesterday morning that will take more than 33.5 hours from airplane wheels up in Zambia to wheels down in Pittsburgh.
Even before my trip, I knew I would not see this bird’s extraordinary courtship display as he breeds from September through December, while I did not visit Africa until late January.
The pennant-winged nightjar (Caprimulgus vexillarius) resembles my Spark Bird, the common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor), but he is far more spectacular. For courtship purposes the male grows two very long feathers, one from each wing, which flow out like streamers when he flies.
This species takes its name from the extraordinarily long, and largely white, second to outermost primaries in breeding males, which are shown to great advantage in courtship display, being vibrated over a responsive female.
Africa has no hummingbirds (Trochilidae) but they have a family of nectar-feeding birds with many of the same characteristics: Sunbirds (Nectariniidae). Though the two families are unrelated they’re an example of convergent evolution, equipped with the same tools and habits.
The similarities between hummingbirds and sunbirds are striking. Both have:
Brilliantly colored males, often iridescent
Sexually dimorphic females
Long curved bills for collecting nectar
Short wings and fast, direct flight
Feed primarily on nectar
Feed insects and spiders to their young
Are important flower pollinators
Prefer red or orange flowers that are long and tubular,
Can enter torpor when it’s cold.
Their differences are also interesting:
Hummingbirds vs. Sunbirds
Hummingbirds
Sunbirds
New World only
Old World: Africa, Asia, Australasia
Range in size from 1.59 g to 20 grams
Range in size from 5 g to 45 grams
Hover and have tiny feet
Perch with normal feet
Don't hang out with family
Usually found in pairs; sometimes in family or larger groups
Some make long migrations
Sedentary or short-distance migrations
Hummingbird beaks can't pierce flowers. That's the job of flowerpiercers.
Sunbirds pierce flowers if the nectar is too hard to reach.
The scarlet-chested is very iridescent and, amazingly, is considered a pest in cocoa plantations because it spreads parasitic mistletoes according to Wikipedia.
Bee-eaters and rollers are both members of the Order Coraciiformes that includes kingfishers, motmots, and todies. All of them have colorful plumage, large heads, short necks, short legs, and usually syndactyly toes. In other words, two of their three pointing-forward toes (toes #3 and #4) are fused at the base.
Here’s what syndactyly looks like on a European bee-eater and a lilac-breasted roller.
The lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus) is every photographer’s dream. He’s as big as a blue jay, very colorful, and willing to perch prominently for a long time.
One of the visual treats for birders in southern Africa is a genus of iridescent birds known as glossy starlings (Lamprotornis). They make up only 18% of the starling family (Sturnidae) yet out-dazzle all the others from the mynas of Asia to the invasive common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) in North America.
The slideshow above shows eight species I expect to see in southern Africa, two slides per species in no special order. Five are glossy starlings (Lamprotornis genus) including the African pied starling which isn’t glossy. One is a monotypic genus that is glossy violet like a hummingbird. The red winged starling is shiny black. The wattled starling male grows black wattles on his face for the breeding season. Here’s the list with links to the details.
In case you’re wondering why glossy starlings are so gorgeous, it’s because those with the best colors get the best mates. Read more about how quickly they evolve new colors in this vintage article:
In Africa there’s a fish eating eagle that has many characteristics in common our own bald eagle. It eats fish, builds a stick nest near water, has a white head and tail, and perches and calls in pairs.
Prior to 2018 it was in the same genus as North America’s bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) but DNA evidence moved the African fish eagle to Icthyophaga vocifer, the “fish-eater with loud voice.” It is closely related to the Madagascar fish eagle (I. vociferoides).
Nonetheless it behaves a lot like a bald eagle. This description of the African fish eagle could be written about the bald eagle, including the habit of stealing fish from ospreys.
… Red-knobbed Coot are important prey in addition to fish. Hunts mainly from a perch by swooping down to pluck prey from near the water surface, rowing larger prey to shore. Rarely hunts when soaring, but regularly pursues and pirates other piscivorous [fish-eating] birds. Perches for 85–95% of day in productive tropical habitat. Usually solitary, but more than 100 may gather at concentrations of stranded fish.
Amur falcons (Falco amurensis) breed in Siberia and northern China and travel 22,000 km (13,670 mi) each fall to southern Africa. Not only is their migration the longest of all the raptors but when they stopover in autumn to refuel in Nagaland, India their flock can number half a million birds. Right now they’re in southern Africa where I hope to see them.
Amur falcons are insectivores who, on migration, capture flying insects to eat in mid air.
Amur falcons are present from October to December near the Nagaland village of Pangti where they fatten up on termites before continuing their journey. There are hundreds of thousands of falcons in the air at once.
Their abundance led to near tragedy, however. Until the practice ended in 2012, Nagaland hunters caught tens of thousands of falcons per day in fishing nets hung from the trees. Each year they killed 250,000 Amur falcons to sell as meat for mere pennies. They thought the falcons would never disappear.
The killing ended abruptly when journalist Bano Haralu returned to her homeland, witnessed the destruction, and got a hunting ban placed in November 2012. More importantly, she and her colleagues taught the villagers, and especially the children, the importance of the falcons and a way forward through ecotourism. It was a stunning turnaround and a credit to the people of Nagaland.
Here are the largest number of birds I have EVER seen in my life! Estimated to be 500,000 Amur falcons migrating to Africa, stopping midway at Nagaland. Happy to see them after the work @wti_org_india did years ago to protect them with community & FD #Nagaland#IndiAvespic.twitter.com/3URyj8Ueq0
UPDATE on 29 January 2024: I was fortunate to see a female Amur falcon in Namibia today, swooping for insects near the Chobe River. (These photos are from Wikimedia.)
Though I can identify birds by song at home, it’s almost impossible to do in southern Africa among birds I’ve never heard before. To prepare for this trip I spent time learning about the birds I might see. Then I discovered their odd and distinctive sounds. Here’s a sample of some notable ones.
Babble: Arrow-marked babblers (Turdoides jardineii), pictured above, are gregarious birds that nest cooperatively and love to sing together. One or two birds may start the babbling song, then everyone joins in. Even after the cacaphony stops a few will mutter to each other. Babblers are members of the Laughingthrush family (Leiothrichidae). When I listen to them it makes me laugh.
Ring: The tropical boubou or bellshrike (Laniarius major) is a frequent singer with a bell-like voice. Contact calls like bou, hou, boubou or bobobobo give the bird its name but in song its vocal repertoire really shines. Boubous often duet in male-female pairs or two males in adjacent territories who call-and-respond so quickly that they sound like one bird. The songs are so amazing that I’ve included three examples.
Toot: The pearl-spotted owlet (Glaucidium perlatum) is the smallest owl in southern Africa, similar in size to our northern saw-whet owl. Though they aren’t in the same genus, the owlet’s call reminds me of a saw-whet’s toot except for this: The owlet toots louder and higher until he drops off at the end.
Shout: The hadada ibis (Bostrychia hagedash) is just plain loud. His name comes from his extremely loud and distinctive “haa-haa-haa-de-dah” call which he makes all year long, especially at dawn and dusk. Hadada ibises are now very common in suburbs where people hear them every day. Imagine one shouting from your roof.
The Kori bustard (Ardeotis kori) is a large ground bird native to Africa that forages by walking along, repeatedly poking it’s beak to the ground. The male of this species can weigh more than 44 pounds and is reputed to be the heaviest bird that’s able to fly.
I’ve wanted to see this bird since 2009 when I found out they tip the scales for flying birds. My best chance may be at Chobe National Park, Botswana in three days time (28 January).
Fingers crossed that I’ll see him while I’m here. He doesn’t even have to fly for me to be enthralled!
Find out why he’s at the top limit of flying birds in this vintage 2009 article.
