GAME: name that bird!

[Jan]

Then it must be the golden pipit?

[Mukambi Safari Lodge]

Guess again! This one is a little tricky...

[inyathi]

Guess again! This one is a little tricky...

 

It certainly is, unless of course you've been to the right part of Africa, I think the clue here is in Mukambi Safari Lodge’s location, Kafue NP in Zambia, Or of course if you've seen the bird in question that also helps quite a lot, unless I'm mistaken I have a photo of the same bird taken somewhere on the Busanga Plains so I would say that it’s got to be Fulleborn’s longclaw which is a Central African endemic and does obviously look very like the yellow-throated.

 

Having the right bird books of course also helps Ian Sinclair and Peter Ryan’s Birds of Africa South of the Sahara may not necessarily be the best book for some parts of Africa but it is one of the only ones that covers Zambia and is also very useful for this quiz.

[Mukambi Safari Lodge]

And we have our winner! Well done inyathi. I am based up on the Plains' so indeed this is the only place I know of in the KNP where the Fulleborns can be found. Quite right on the Birds of Africa South of the Sahara, an essential birding companion for a trip to Zambia or anywhere north of the Zambezi.

[Jan]

And we have our winner! Well done inyathi. I am based up on the Plains' so indeed this is the only place I know of in the KNP where the Fulleborns can be found. Quite right on the Birds of Africa South of the Sahara, an essential birding companion for a trip to Zambia or anywhere north of the Zambezi.

 

I should have checked my Sasol birds of Southern Africa 1993 which is by my bag for packing for my trip to Botswana

 

on Saturday. I had checked in my larger Sasol 2005 which sits on my desk next to my laptop. On page 356 of my 1993

 

copy I have written 'Fulleborns Longclaw' Busanga 1998!

[inyathi]

Thanks Mukambi

 

Before deciding what to post I had to have bit look back through to make sure I don't post one I've posted before

 

I think I've still got plenty of bird shots stored away and a few new ones trouble is most of them are I suspect pretty easy, so not wanting to post anything too easy, well where's the fun in that

 

I thought I'd offer this one

 

[Super LEEDS]

black dwarf hornbill? or a white-crested hornbill if there is such a thing lol

Edited October 21, 2011 by Super LEEDS

[XavierSurinyach]

It's a white-crested hornbill, Tockus albocristatus.

L 65cm

Habitat: Dense forests and sourrinding areas, West Uganda

[inyathi]

Yes it's a white-crested hornbill taken at Mikongo in Lope NP in Gabon, it may have been a complete guess Super LEEDS but you did give the correct common name so I think it's over to you.

[Super LEEDS]

Haha no way! Was going to say white crowned but went for crested - lucky me!

 

OK here's my entry. Apologies for lack of quality but not really a birder (!) and even more apologies for not even knowing the correct variety of this bird so I'll leave it to you to fight amongst yourselves for the right answer

 

[XavierSurinyach]

Yes it's a white-crested hornbill taken at Mikongo in Lope NP in Gabon, it may have been a complete guess Super LEEDS but you did give the correct common name so I think it's over to you.

[XavierSurinyach]

I was in Mikongo August 2005 but I wasn't lucky enough to see it. I've been informed the Lope Hotel is closed. Do you know if Mikongo camp is still open to tourists?

[inyathi]

I was at Mikongo Camp in 2008 and I’m afraid the camp closed soon after my visit, looking at the ZSL website the camp still seems to be closed. I don’t know why they closed it or whether it will ever be reopened, I’m not sure what the situation is with the Lopé Hotel either but I’ve had a look at various birding tours to Gabon for next year and they still seem to be staying there as far as I can see, they certainly all go to Lopé.

 

 

SuperLEEDS if you don’t know what the bird is that could make this rather difficult , I’m not certain so the best I can do is make an educated guess I’ll have to leave it to others to decide if I’m right or wrong.

 

 

Looking at the red soil and having read some of your other posts I’m thinking the photo was probably taken in Tsavo which would narrow it down a bit. So I’m not absolutely sure but I’ll say I think it’s a plain nightjar Caprimulgus inornatus

[Super LEEDS]

OK lol I've consulted me expert and its not a plain. This is going to be a tough one!

 

Am I allowed to say where it was taken? Close to Tsavo... Taita Hills Reserve (Sarova Salt Lick).

[TZBirder]

OK, I'll have a guess! My first thought was that it was a blurred Donaldson-Smith's - it's so short and squat and rather colourful. But then I thought maybe it's not that blurred and it really isn't desperately well marked, which would tend to suggest another brightly coloured species, like Fiery-necked. Now you tell us it's near Taita, I'm not sure - that's probably rather a long way inland for Fiery-necked and I certainly don't remember hearing them in that area.

 

Off the top of my head (my bird book is currently up Meru with my wife!), I think Tsavo Nightjars should include Donaldson-Smith's, Slender-tailed, Plain, Freckled and Dusky, with possibly Montane and Fiery-necked in hills and forest accordingly. It's clearly not Slender-tailed, Freckled is a grey looking beast and Plain already ruled out, though Dusky is another contender...

 

So, I'm going with my first guess of Donaldson-Smith's, given the amound of orange, but holding Dusky in reserve just in case!

[Jochen]

Based on the lack of a band in the neck, and the color in general, I'd say a Star-Spotted Nightjar. But that's Northern Kenya.

 

Maybe you should help us a bit,; where was the pic taken?

[Super LEEDS]

TZBirder has it!! Donaldson-Smith

 

Jochen - I did say mate in the post above, near Tsavo, was in the Taita Hills Reserve used by Sarova Salt Lick Lodge and a few others.

[TZBirder]

My turn then. This one's an easy one from a tricky group, photo from the Tarangire ecosystem, just down the road.

[inyathi]

Female chestnut weaver?

[TZBirder]

Female chestnut weaver?

 

Said it was easy! (could also be a non-breeding male though). It's good to know that at least one of the nonbreeding weavers is easy!

 

C

[inyathi]

Thanks

 

I'm afraid this really might be quite a difficult one, which usually means someone will get it straight away but I don't think so this time.

 

[TZBirder]

Got to be Forbes' Plover - like a 3-banded, but missing white on the forehead.

[inyathi]

Yes, Forbes' Plover taken in the grounds of the Lope’ Hotel in Gabon Feb 2008

 

I'll have to see if I've got anything harder , clearly that one was too easy

[TZBirder]

OK, then no hints this time:

 

Edited November 2, 2011 by Game Warden

[inyathi]

Well this one's definitely a mystery, I think there's a problem with the link so the photos not showing up here. However I can see the photos in the Gallery so I've had a look it, I'm really not sure about this one so I'm just going to make a guess which may be completely wrong and say little greenbul.