Chad Bird ID please help

[Botswanadreams]

Please can one of the birders help with the ID of this I think falcon from Zakouma.

Sorry for the pic quality.

 

[Tdgraves]

@Botswanadreams my initial thought was Lanner falcon. I have never been to Chad so I looked and they do occur there. Perhaps someone who has actually been could confirm...

[Soukous]

Lanner Falcon looks like a good call. At first the lack of a white forehead made me think otherwise but I have found examples of Lanners without the white above the bill.

[inyathi]

Definitely a lanner I would say, which is one of the most common large falcons in Africa, here's a shot I took of one in Zakouma.

 

Lanner Falcon at Rigueik in Zakouma National Park in Chad by inyathi, on Flickr

 

[Botswanadreams]

Thanks all very much for your help.

[Botswanadreams]

Ok it's not a bird but please can anybody of the experts help with the ID of this little guy seen in Zakouma too. Thanks in advance. 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by Botswanadreams

[Botswanadreams]

Is there nobody how can help in the big community with an idea for this little guy. 

[inyathi]

@BotswanadreamsI meant to reply earlier, I would think that it's actually just a female common agama, it certainly looks to me like an agama and the females tend to be fairly well camouflaged in contrast to the very colourful blue and orange males. That's my suggestion someone else, who knows more about herpetology might think differently.   

[Botswanadreams]

Thanks very much @inyathi. My reptile book covers only East Africa. "The Reptile Database" says four species of Agama for Chad ( Agama agama, Agama boueti, Agama gracilimembris, Agama paragama) maybe possible. I've contacted an expert how helped me once with an Agama form Ethiopia. When I get an answer I'll post here.  

[Botswanadreams]

Me again with a non bird question. Has anybody please an idea what snake we saw in Ennedi 

 

 

[Botswanadreams]

Today I got an answer to the Agama. 

Dr. Philipp Wagner says it is definitely a female Agama but there a more than one in the area looking very similar. An exact ID is with this pics impossible.  

[Botswanadreams]

Now please something for all the birders. 

Could this be the White-crowned Black Wheatear or als called White-tailed Wheatear? The area should be fine. 

We saw this bird very offen in Ennedi. 

 

 

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Botswanadreams

[inyathi]

@Botswanadreams I'm afraid I can't help with the snake, you are right about the wheatear, it is definitely the white-crowned black, a bird that I have seen many years ago in Morocco,  there are no other black and white wheatears or chats in the Saharan region, I've quickly flicked through Birds of Africa South of the Sahara and Birds of Western Africa, both books cover Ennedi, just to be certain I'm not mistaken and nothing else matches.  

[Botswanadreams]

@inyathi Many thanks to you. You are always a great help. You know your Zakouma report was not only a great inspiration for me to go to Chad by myself it was also my biggest source with knowledge about mammals and birds for this part. 

 

I wasn't sure with Birds of Africa South of the Sahara that it covers Ennedi too. I'll try may luck with Dr. Wagner again for the snake. Maybe he can help or an colleague specialised in snakes. We'll see.   

[Botswanadreams]

Help needed again from the birders please.

 

 

This little guy was sitting under a rock trying to protect himself from heavy wind at the edge of Ennedi West in Chad. 

I think it is a Scops-Owl but not sure which one African or European.  

Edited May 25, 2019 by Botswanadreams

[inyathi]

@Botswanadreams Other than saying nice view of a scops owl, I can't really help with this one, telling the African from the European is very difficult because they are just so similar, their ranges overlap, so the range maps that I've looked at, don't help as they indicate that both could occur in Ennedi, so it could be either.

Edited May 25, 2019 by inyathi

[Botswanadreams]

Thanks @inyathi, We'll leave it at one of the two. It was so funny to find this little guy under the rock in this extreme environment. We were looking for bigger stones to fix our tent. Heavy wind zaustet through the feathers. In the morning he or she was gone.  

[Botswanadreams]

Dear @inyathi would you please help again with a bird from Ennedi. Sorry for the quality.

 

 

 

 

[inyathi]

@Botswanadreams 

 

This is a tricky one because of the angle, my best guess would be one of the warblers but I haven’t pinned it down to exactly which one. Interestingly I decided to see if what I could find out about the birds of Ennedi and found a bird list on the Avibase website, I can’t vouch for how accurate this list is, but it should help narrow it down. At the moment I’m just not sure about this one, but I do see that African scops owl isn’t on the list.

 

Ennedi bird list

 

I’ll give it a bit more thought, but that’s the best I can do at the moment.

[Botswanadreams]

@inyathi I'm sorry for the late respond. Thanks very much to taking your time. I was looking at the warblers. If I understand it right most of them are winter visitors in Africa but to me it looks like the bird in the picture carry nesting material in the bill. So it shouldn't be a migration bird. Please can you take a short look to the Rufous-tailed or African Scrub-Robin for me. It occurs to Ennedi too. What do you think? Thanks in advance.   

[inyathi]

@Botswanadreams Yes following your comment I’ve had a rethink and I think it’s definitely a rufous-tailed scrub-robin as you say the nesting material rules out all of the migratory warblers, when I first looked at your photos I immediately noticed the dark patch on the bend of the wing and looked through the books for a bird that has the same patch, thinking that would make it easy. None of the depictions of the scrub-robin show this so I ruled it out, but I’ve now seen some photos online that do show it and also some that show the underside of the tail, so I’m sure it must be the scrub-robin. I don’t know why that patch is so prominent in your photos but is not shown in any of the illustrations as far as I can see.

[Botswanadreams]

Thank you very much @inyathi.