Pages

Bird Species

Cape Sugarbird

A caoe Sugarbird photographed at Helderberg Nature Reserve in Cape Town, Western Cape

A Cape Sugarbird photographed in the Paarl Mountain Reserve in Paarl, Western Cape.
The Cape sugarbird is a grey-brown bird that easily recognisable by a spot of yellow under its tail and the very long tail feathers present in males. The male is 34–44 cm long, and the shorter-tailed, shorter-billed, and paler breasted female 25–29 cm long. Another characteristic of the Cape sugarbird is the sound it makes when it flies. The main flight feathers are arranged in such a way that when the bird beats its wings, a frrt-frrt sound is made with the intention of attracting females.
The Cape sugarbird is distributed throughout the chaparral in South Africa and the Cape Floral Region where there are flowering proteas and ericas. It is also found in gardens in summer when most proteas are not in flower.[3] A common species throughout its range, the Cape sugarbird is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The Cape sugarbird is a specialist nectar feeder when it comes to feeding off Proteaceae. Its long, sharp beak is used to reach the nectar of a variety of species of protea with its long brush-tipped tongue. The staple diet of this sugarbird is nectar; however, it will also eat spiders and insects. The characteristic strong winds in the Cape may make feeding off protea heads difficult, but the Cape sugarbird has adapted to this with the development of sharp claws.
The Cape Sugarbird belongs to the genus Promerops. There are only two species in this genus. The sugarbirds make up a small genus, Promerops, and the family Promeropidae, of passerine birds which are restricted to southern Africa. In general appearance as well as habits they resemble large long-tailed sunbirds, but are possibly more closely related to the Australian honeyeaters. They have brownish plumage, the long downcurved bill typical of passerine nectar feeders, and long tail feathers.
The relationships of the sugarbirds have been the source of considerable debate. They were first treated as a far-flung member of the honeyeaterfamily, which is otherwise restricted to the Australasian region. Looking at egg white proteins in the 1970s Sibley and Ahlquist mistakenly placed them with the starlings (the samples used were actually those of sunbirds). They have also been linked to the thrushes (Turdidae) and the sunbirds. Molecular studies find support for few close relatives, and they are treated as a family at present,[1] although it now is usually determined they form a clade with three enigmatic species. These species, from the mountains of East Africa, were formerly placed in the large taxon that includes the Old World babblers.[2] Recent studies indicate the family to be monotypic. 
The Cape Sugarbied belongs to the order of birds called the Passerinformes. The foot of a passerine has three toes directed forward and one toe directed backward, called anisodactyl arrangement. This arrangement enables the passerine birds to perch upon vertical surfaces, such as trees and cliffs. The toes have no webbing or joining, but in some cotingas, the second and third toes are united at their basal third. The hind toe joins the leg at the same level as the front toes. In other orders of birds, the toe arrangement is different.
The leg arrangement of passerine birds contains a special adaptation for perching. A tendon in the rear of the leg running from the underside of the toes to the muscle behind the tibiotarsus will automatically be pulled and tighten when the leg bends, causing the foot to curl and become stiff when the bird lands on a branch. This enables passerines to sleep while perching without falling off. This is especially useful for passerine birds that develop nocturnal lifestyles.[2] [3]
Most passerine birds develop 12 tail feathers, although the superb lyrebird has 16.[4] Certain species of passerines have stiff tail feathers, which help the birds balance themselves when perching upon vertical surfaces. Some passerines, specifically in the family Ploceidae, are well known for their elaborate sexual ornaments, including extremely long tails. A well-known example is the long-tailed widowbird.
Endemic to the fynbos biome of the Western Cape extending into the Eastern Cape, as it is highly dependent on Protea's for nectar and nesting sites.
Distribution of Cape sugarbird in southern Africa, based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas Project (© Animal Demography unit, University of Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common). See here for the latest distribution from the SABAP2.  


Pied Kingfisher

A Pied Kingfisher photographed at Jonkershoek Nature Reserve
The pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) is a water kingfisher and is found widely distributed across Africa and Asia. Its black and white plumage, crest and the habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish makes it distinctive. Males have a double band across the breast while females have a single gorget that is often broken in the middle. They are usually found in pairs or small family parties. When perched, they often bob their head and flick up their tail.
This kingfisher is about 17 cm long and is white with a black mask, a white supercilium and black breast bands. The crest is neat and the upperparts are barred in black. Several subspecies are recognized within the broad distribution. The nominate race is found in sub-Saharan Africa, extending into West Asia. A former subspecies syriaca is considered as merely a larger northern bird of the nominate species (following Bergmann's rule).Subspecies leucomelanura is found from Afghanistan east into India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Laos. The subspecies travancoreensis of the Western Ghats is darker with the white reduced. Subspecies C. r. insignis is found in Hainan and southeastern China and has a much larger bill. Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band.
It is common throughout sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia from Turkey to India to China. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate, other than short-distance seasonal movements.[5] In India it is distributed mainly on the plains and is replaced in the higher hills of the Himalayas by Megaceryle lugubris.
The pied kingfisher is estimated to be the world's third most common kingfisher, and being a noisy bird, hard to miss. 
The Pied Kingfisher belongs to the order Coraciiformes. The Coraciiformes are a group of usually colorful birds including the kingfishers, the bee-eaters, the rollers, the motmots, and the todies. They generally have syndactyly, with three forward-pointing toes (and toes 3 & 4 fused at their base), though in many kingfishers one of these is missing.
This is largely an Old World order, with the representation in the New World limited to the dozen or so species of todies and motmots, and a mere handful of the more than 90 species of kingfishers.
The name Coraciiformes means "raven-like", which is a misnomer (ravens are passerines). Specifically, it comes from the Latin language "corax", meaning "raven" and Latin "forma", meaning "form", which is the standard ending for bird orders. 
The Pied Kingfisher belongs to the family Cerylidae. The water kingfishers or Cerylidae are one of the three families of kingfishers, and are also known as the cerylid kingfishers. All six Americanspecies are in this family.
These are all specialist fish-eating species, unlike many representatives of the other two families, and it is likely that they are all descended from fish-eating kingfishers which founded populations in the New World. It was believed that the entire group evolved in the Americas, but this seems not to be true. The original ancestor possibly evolved in Africa – at any rate in the Old World – and the Chloroceryle species are the youngest ones.
Not longer than 5 million years ago – possibly as recently as 2.9 million years ago – an Old World giant kingfisher became the ancestor of thebelted and ringed kingfishers, and later, another species related to the pied kingfisher became the ancestor of the Chloroceryle green kingfishers after colonizing the Americas. While the evolutionary history of the water kingfishers in regard to their internal relationships is well resolved, it is not entirely clear whether they evolved from river kingfishers or tree kingfishers, and whether they immigrated across the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean (though the former seems more likely).
There are 9 water kingfisher species in three genera:
  • The pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis), the only member of Ceryle, is widespread in the tropical regions of the Old World.
The Pied kingfisher is the the only bird in the genus Ceryle.
The pied kingfisher is found in all the provinces of South Africa. You are most likely to find the pied kingfisher in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu Natal. You will be less likely to find them in Northern Cape, Free State and North West Province.

Cape Bunting

A Cape Bunting photographed at Limietberg Nature Reserve near Wellington, in Western Cape
The Cape bunting is 16 cm long. The adult has a black crown, white supercilium and black-bordered white ear coverts. The upperparts are grey brown with some dark streaks, and the wing coverts are chestnut. The tail is darker chestnut, and the underparts are grey with a pale throat. The sexes are very similar, but females may have a buff tone to the white head markings. Young birds have duller chestnut wings, a less distinct head pattern, and heavier streaking extending on to the breast and flanks. The call is an ascending zzoo-zeh-zee-zee. The song is a loud chirping chup chup chup chup chee chhep chu. E. c. vincenti has a simple tre-re-ret tre-re-ret song.
The Cape bunting occurs in southern Africa from south-western Angola, eastern Zambia, Zimbabwe and southern Tanzania to the Cape. Its habitat is rocky slopes and dry weedy scrub, mainly in mountains in the north of its range. It previously utilized stony arid areas with some short grass, but much of this has been lost to ploughing.
The Cape Bunting belongs to the order of Passeriformes. The order is divided into three suborders, Tyranni (suboscines), Passeri (oscines), and the basal Acanthisitti. Oscines have the best control of their syrinx muscles among birds, producing a wide range of songs and other vocalizations (though some of them, such as thecrows, do not sound musical to human beings); some such as the lyrebird are accomplished imitators. The acanthisittids or New Zealand wrens are tiny birds restricted to New Zealand, at least in modern times; they were long placed in Passeri; their taxonomic position is uncertain, although they seem to be a distinct and very ancient group.
Most passerines are smaller than typical members of other avian orders. The heaviest and altogether largest passerines are the thick-billed raven and the larger races of common raven, each exceeding 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) and 70 cm (28 in). The superb lyrebird and some birds-of-paradise, due to very long tails or tail coverts, are longer overall. The smallest passerine is the short-tailed pygmy tyrant, at 6.5 cm (2.6 in) and 4.2 g (0.15 oz).
The Cape Bunting belongs to the Family of emberizidae. Emberizidae is a large family of seed-eating passerine birds with a distinctively finch-like bill.
In Europe, most species are called buntings. In North America, most of the species in this family are known as (American) sparrows, but these birds are not closely related to the (Old World) sparrows, in the family Passeridae. The family also includes the North American birds known asjuncos and towhees.
It was hypothesized that the family Emberizidae may have originated in South America and spread first into North America before crossing into eastern Asia and continuing to move west. This would explain the comparative paucity of emberizid species in Europe and Africa compared to theAmericas. However, a DNA sequence-based study of passerines concluded emberizids spread from North to South America.
As with several other passerine families the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux. Many genera in South and Central America are in fact more closely related to several different tanager clades, and at least one tanager genus (Chlorospingus) may belong here in the Emberizidae.
The Cape Bunting belongs to the genus Emberiza, the genus contains 41 species. There are 4 species of bunting found in South Africa, of which the Cape Bunting is one.
The Cape Bunting occurs from Angola and Malawi to southern Africa, where it is especially common in South Africa and Lesotho while more scarce in patches of Namibia and Zimbabwe, marginally extending into Botswana and Mozambique. It generally prefers dry shrubland and heathland on rocky ridges and plains, open woodland along dry watercourses, villages and gardens, rarely moving into thickets of alien Port Jackson willow (Acacia saligna) and Rooikrans (Acacia cyclops).
In South Africa, you best chance of seeing the Cape Bunting is in the Western Cape, then Northern Cape and Eastern Cape. The Cape Bunting has been spotted in all nine South African provinces, but you are least likely to find them in Limpopo, Kwazulu Natal and North West Province.

Karoo Prinia
A Karoo Prinia Photographed at Paarl Mountain Reserve, Paarl, Western Cape

A Karoo Prinia Photographed at Jonkershoek Nature Resreve, in Stellenbosch, Western Cape

The Karoo prinia or spotted prinia (Prinia maculosa) is a small passerine bird. This prinia is a southern African endemic resident breeder in Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland.
It is a species of karoo scrub, fynbos and bracken covered slopes in semi-desert and mountains. The former eastern subspecies P. m. hypoxantha is now usually considered to be a separate species, the Drakensberg prinia, P. hypoxantha.
The Karoo prinia is 13–15 cm long, with short rounded wings, a longish tail, strong legs and a short straight black bill. The head has a whitish eyebrow and the upperparts are otherwise brown. The throat and lower face are whitish with dark streaking and the rest of the underparts are yellowish white or yellow with distinct black streaking. The long tail has a dark spot near the end and is typically cocked up at an angle. The feet and legs are pinkish-brown, and the eye is dark brown. The sexes are identical, but juveniles are much yellower below than the adults and less heavily streaked.
The Karoo prinia builds a thin-walled oval nest with a side entrance from green grass. It is well hidden deep inside a leafy shrub or bush. Breeding is from August to September in areas with winter rainfall, but later (up to December) elsewhere.
The Karoo prinia is usually seen in pairs or small groups, typically low in scrub, but sometimes perching on the top of a bush. It actively forages for small insects, with tail cocked and frequently swung side-to-side.
This common species has a large range, with an estimated extent of 670,000 km². The population size is believed to be large, and the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern
The Karoo Prinia belong to the order of passeriforms. A passerine is any bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. A notable feature of passerines compared to other orders of Aves is the arrangement of their toes, three pointing forward and one back, which facilitates perching. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrateorders, with over 5,000 identified species. It has roughly twice as many species as the largest of the mammal orders, the Rodentia. It contains more than 110 families, the second-most of any order of tetrapods (after Squamata, the scaled reptiles).
The names "passerine" and "Passeriformes" are derived from Passer domesticus, the scientific name of the eponymous species (thehouse sparrow) and ultimately from the Latin term passer for Passer sparrows and similar small birds.
The Karoo Prinia belong to the family cisticolidae. The Cisticolidae family of small passerine birds is a group of about 110 warblers found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They are often included within the Old World warbler family Sylviidae.
This family probably originated in Africa, which has the majority of species, but there are representatives of the family across tropical Asia intoAustralasia, and one species, the zitting cisticola, even breeds in Europe.
These are generally very small birds of drab brown or grey appearance found in open country such as grassland or scrub. They are often difficult to see and many species are similar in appearance, so the song is often the best identification guide.
These are insectivorous birds which nest low in vegetation.
The Karoo prinia belongs to the Prinia genus. Worldwide there are 24 different prinia species. The prinias are sometimes referred to as wren-warblers. They are a little-known group of the tropical and subtropical Old World, the species being divided fairly equally between Africa and Asia.
These are birds mainly of open habitats such as long grass or scrub, in which they are not easily seen. They are mainly resident, migration being limited to local cold weather movements. Non-breeding birds may form small flocks.
Prinias have short wings but long tapering tails. They are fairly drab birds, brown or grey above (sometimes with dark streaks) and whitish below. Some species have different breeding and non-breeding plumages. The bill is a typical insectivore's, thin and slightly curved. In south Africa there are 4 species of prinia of which the Karoo Prinia is one.
Distribution of the Karoo Prinia as seen on the map below. You are most likely to find this bird in Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape. You will not find this species of bird in Gauteng, or North West Provinces, with small chance of spotting them in Limpopo.
 




Common Moorhen




A Common Moorhen photographed at Paarl Bird Sanctuary, in Paarl, Western Cape.

The Common Moorhen belongs to the order Gruiformes. The Gruiformes are an order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird families, with a widespread geographical diversity. Gruiform means "crane-like".
Traditionally, a number of wading and terrestrial bird families that did not seem to belong to any other order were classified together as Gruiformes. These include 14 species of large cranes, about 145 species of smaller crakes and rails, as well as a variety of families comprising one to three species, such as the Heliornithidae, the limpkin, or the trumpeters. Other birds have been placed in this order more out of necessity to place them somewhere; this has caused the expanded Gruiformes to lack distinctive apomorphies. Recent studies indicate that these "odd Gruiformes" are if at all only loosely related to the cranes, rails, and relatives ("core Gruiformes").
The Common Moorhen belong to the family of Rails. The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, although the family is found in every terrestrial habitat except dry deserts, polar regions, and alpine areas above the snow line. Members of the Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. There are numerous island species. The most common rail habitats are marshland or dense forest. They are especially fond
of dense vegetation.
There are 8 species of Moorhen of which the Common Moorhen are 1. The Common Moorhen can be subdivided in another 5 sub-species of which the African Common Moorhen is one. The African Common Moorhen is found in Sub-Saharan Africa and Saint Helena.
 The African Common Moorhen occurs extensively worldwide between 65° North and 40° South, largely excluding forested and desert areas; it occupies much of sub-Saharan Africa. In southern Africa it is locally common in Zimbabwe, northern and south-eastern Botswana, Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip), South Africa and parts of Mozambique. It generally prefers freshwater wetlands, such as marshes, swamps, ponds, pans, streams, rivers, canals, flooded grassland and temporary pools on flood plains.
Distribution of Common moorhen in southern Africa, based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas Project (© Animal Demography unit, University of Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common).  

 


The African Common Moorhen is a common bird and widely distributed across South Africa. Your best chance to spot them in South Africa is Gauteng, Kwazulu Natal and Western Cape. Least likely provinces to spot them will be in the Nothern Cape, Limpopo and Eastern Cape, but as previously mentioned, they are common birds in areas where there are marshlands and water nearby.
Birding spots where I have photographed them are:

Southern Double-Collared Sunbird


Southern Double-Collared Sunbird at Val de Vie, Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa

There are 132 species of sunbird in the world. The Southern Double-Collared Sunbird belongs to the Cinnyris genus of sunbirds of which there are 50 species worldwide. In South Africa there are 21 species of sunbird (that is 16% of species in the world).  More specifically, of the Cinnyris genus, there are 11 species present in South Africa of the 50 worldwide. In the Western Cape you can find 7 species of sunbird.

The Southern Double-Collared Sunbird is endemic to Southern Africa. The bird occurs in the far south of Namibia, eastern Lesotho and the northern parts of Swaziland. In South Africa it can be found in 7 of the 9 provinces. It generally prefers fynbos and Karoo shrubland, woodland, afromontane forest, gardens and Eucalyptus plantations.
Most birds can be seen in the Western Cape, followed by the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape. You will not find these birds in Gauteng or Northwest Province, with very slight chance of spotting them in the eastern part of the Freestate.
These birds are classified as least concern in conservation status. The population  size of the Southern Double-Collared Sunbird is unknown and the distribution area of them are 488 000 km squared. At Val de Vie, as in many parts of the Western Cape , the sighting report rate of this bird species is 65% to 75% by participants in the South African Atlas Project. Total report rate of sightings in all of South Africa is 10% to 15%.

The Southern Double-Collared Sunbird is one of three endemic or near endemic sunbirds to South Africa.  The Orange Breasted Sunbird is endemic to South Africa. The Southern Double-Collared Sunbird, together with the Double-Collared Sunbird are near endemic with more than 70% of the distribution in South Africa.

Wikipedia  describes the Southern Double-Collared Sunbird as follow:

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. The female is greyer below than the female orange-breasted sunbird, and darker below than the female dusky sunbird.



At Biodiversity Explorer a map shows the distribution of the Southern Double-Collared Sunbird.








No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)