It’s Sunday, and today we continue with John Avise‘s series on African birds. John’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it:
South Africa Birds, Part 6
This week’s post is Part 6 of a 9-part mini-series on birds I photographed in South Africa during an extended seminar trip in 2007. It shows another batch of species from that avian-rich part of the world.
Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta):
Hartlaub’s Gull (Chroicocephalus hartlaubii):
Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris):
White-browed Robin-chat (Cossypha heuglini):
Kurrichane Thrush (Turdus libonyana):
Laughing Dove flying (Spilopelia senegalensis):
Southern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus), male:
Levaillant’s Cisticola (Cisticola tinniens):
Lilac-breaster Roller (Coracias caudatus):
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta):
Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa):
Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer):
Mosque Swallow flying (Cecropis senegalensis):
Namaqua Dove (Oena capensis):
More terrific photography, thank you. I especially love the patterns on the Guineafowl.
Occasionally see a flock of Guineafowl while riding my bike through the back hills of Arkansas. What a racket they make. Worse than Canadian Geese, and that is saying something.
Ahhh – perfection.
Beautiful. It’s interesting that so many of these S. African birds are clearly related to birds of North America: the thrush, the Guinea fowl, the gull, for instance. Are the clades to which these birds belong really that old? South Africa and North America have been separated for a very long time.
All beautiful photos and birds. I am particularly dazzled by that Lilac-breaster Roller.
Those colors are mesmerizing.
Thank you for posting!
Thank you John. I always look forward to your photos on Sundays!
I adore this series. Thanks so much for this feature, Jerry.
Hi John, thank you very much for these gorgeous pictures, and apologies for my comment being so late. All of these are amazing! My only question is how does the Little Egret differ from our Snowy Egret, as they seem quite similar. Are they close relatives?
Yes, Susan, the two species do indeed look nearly identical. I presume they must be sister taxa that someone once decided somehow merit recognition as separate species. If you see one of these birds in the Americas, it’s presumably a “Snowy Egret”; if you see one elsewhere in the world, it’s presumably a “Little Egret”! Such is the frustration of this kind of systematics.