GAME: name that bird!

[safaripics]

Taken in Tsavo East. The victim was one of many ;-)

[Rainbirder]

Lanner, judging by size probably a female.

 

The fast-food takeaway is a bit more difficult. It looks like a male Masked Weaver species rather than Village Weaver judging by the extent of black on the head. The absence of yellow eyes would suggest Vitelline Masked Weaver rather than Lesser Masked Weaver but the detail rapidly evaporates on blowing up the jpeg.

 

OK, coming off the fence: Lanner Falcon with a male VItelline Masked Weaver.

[safaripics]

Nope...both wrong I'm afraid...Another clue...The little guy usually appears in mahoosive flocks and the killer is only found in East Africa.

[Rainbirder]

I did initially think of Red-billed Quelea but I must admit that I thought the underparts in your bird were yellow!

 

Did you think the Falcon was a Taita?

Queleas are about 11cm long maximum which would make your falcon about 45cm long.

[safaripics]

Yes. We sat for about half an hour watching a pair of Taita Falcons repeatedly diving into a flock of Red-Billed Quelea, till this one caught one. I'm not sure if the one it caught is a juvenile or not but the Falcon is definitely a Taita. This pair nest near Voi and usually hunt along the Voi end of the old pipeline road or the Kanderi Swamp. this was taken along the pipeline road.

 

Your turn :-)

[Sverker]

Great pic of a bird I have yet to see.

[Rainbirder]

I'm pretty sure that your Falcon is a Lanner.

 

Taita Falcon is small (smaller than our kestrels) with a short tail. The facial pattern is different from your bird and it usually appears rufous when seen from below. Sadly Taita Falcon is also exceedingly rare and there are only a few known pairs in Kenya (and despite their name they are not seen in the Taita hills).

 

Regardless of what the raptor is you've certainly managed to get a great shot!

[safaripics]

I'm pretty sure that your Falcon is a Lanner.

 

Taita Falcon is small (smaller than our kestrels) with a short tail. The facial pattern is different from your bird and it usually appears rufous when seen from below. Sadly Taita Falcon is also exceedingly rare and there are only a few known pairs in Kenya (and despite their name they are not seen in the Taita hills).

 

Regardless of what the raptor is you've certainly managed to get a great shot!

 

I appreciate your reservations about the identification, as the Taita Falcon is extremely rare. The Voi area is one of the few places in Kenya where they are regularly seen. The Quelea does appear small in this image, making the falcon look much larger than it is. I have others shots that make identification easier, including some that clearly show the rufous nape patch.

[Rainbirder]

I'm pretty sure that your Falcon is a Lanner.

 

Taita Falcon is small (smaller than our kestrels) with a short tail. The facial pattern is different from your bird and it usually appears rufous when seen from below. Sadly Taita Falcon is also exceedingly rare and there are only a few known pairs in Kenya (and despite their name they are not seen in the Taita hills).

 

Regardless of what the raptor is you've certainly managed to get a great shot!

 

I appreciate your reservations about the identification, as the Taita Falcon is extremely rare. The Voi area is one of the few places in Kenya where they are regularly seen. The Quelea does appear small in this image, making the falcon look much larger than it is. I have others shots that make identification easier, including some that clearly show the rufous nape patch.

 

Taita Falcon is a wee (almost tiny) dumpy darkish short-tailed falcon with short legs (short tarsi). Seen from below in flight it has rufous underparts and a contrasting white throat. In level flight it flies more like a parrot than a falcon.

It is very rare with the World population probably numbering only about 1000 adults (only 12 pairs in the whole of South Africa). In fact it is so rare that I can't find a single online image of one in flight. It is also a species that is by and large confined to rocky ravines -or at least there are almost no photographs of wild Taita Falcons away from such habitats though as with any bird -have wings, will travel.

 

Here is a link to an article on Taita Falcons: http://www.africanra...e-taita-falcon/

 

The flight shot above is a Lanner Falcon. Medium sized, longish tail, reasonably long tarsi, underwing coverts similar colour to underparts. The rufous patch in your bird is on the crown rather than the nape.

 

Perhaps TZ birder (who has far more experience than me) can give us his opinion.

I mean no offence but if this is a Taita Falcon then I'll eat my Tilley! ;-)

 

Regardless it is not an easy task to photograph any falcon in flight and you have done very well here!

[safaripics]

This bird was way too small for a Lanner; they're similar in size to a Peregrine! I appreciate that the angle and the fact that the Quelea is crushed up in the Falcon's talons makes the falcon look bigger in the original pic but this is a Taita Falcon and yes it is tiny, not much more than half the size of a Peregrine.

 

I've circled the rufous nape patch on the image for you - it is quite seperate from the crown patch and only occurs on the Taita Falcon.

 

 

Here's another, not a great pic but just as the Quelea was grabbed and before it was screwed up in the talons. As you can see, the falcon is about three times the length of the Quelea

 

Edited August 25, 2012 by safaripics

[Rainbirder]

Many Lanner are smaller than our Scottish Peregrines.

Your bird's head is as big as the Quelea!

You've circled the side of the neck whereas the nape will be barely visible in this view. Also the rufous crown is visible -this feature is diagnostic of Lanner.

 

Taita Falcons aren't much bigger than Merlins!

 

Maybe Inyathi or TZ birder would like to give their opinions as I fear we won't reach agreement on this one.

[safaripics]

Sorry, I just modified my post with another image as you were posting.

 

Yes it seems we are not going to agree on this. Thanks for taking the time to discuss though and having seen the quality of your images, I am flattered by your comments on the photography. Happy birding!

 

Oh...and it's still your turn ;-)

Edited August 25, 2012 by safaripics

[inyathi]

Seen from below in flight it has rufous underparts and a contrasting white throat.

 

The flight shot above is a Lanner Falcon. Medium sized, longish tail, reasonably long tarsi, underwing coverts similar colour to underparts. The rufous patch in your bird is on the crown rather than the nape.

 

Great photos, but sorry Safaripics I’m afraid I’m inclined to agree with Rainbirder

 

In all the books I’ve looked at the Taita is described and illustrated as being rufous underneath and I just don’t see your bird as being what I would call rufous. Looking at lots of photos of Taitas on the web after doing a Google image search, the rufous may not generally be as dark as in the illustrations but it is still noticeable more so than in your photos, also the tail of your bird looks much too long for a Taita. I may be wrong but I really don’t think this is a Taita, certainly my first thought was a lanner a bird I've seen many times unlike the Taita which I think I probably haven't seen. Anyway that's just my opinion I'm definitely no expert.

[Rainbirder]

Okay folks, the show goes on:

[safaripics]

Not a bird I've seen before, so relying on Zimmerman et al

 

I'm going with African Shrike-Flycatcher female

[Rainbirder]

Spot on!

The coconut is yours!

 

A female African Shrike-flycatcher photographed in Kakamega, Western Kenya.

[safaripics]

One from a few years ago...

 

[safaripics]

Taken in Lake Nakuru NP

[Rainbirder]

Taken in Lake Nakuru NP

 

Near Baboon cliffs and it's a female???

Edited August 29, 2012 by Rainbirder

[safaripics]

Yes indeed :-)

[Rainbirder]

I'll leave this and see if there are any other takers.

[TZBirder]

That is a nice fact filch.

[TZBirder]

Many Lanner are smaller than our Scottish Peregrines.

Your bird's head is as big as the Quelea!

You've circled the side of the neck whereas the nape will be barely visible in this view. Also the rufous crown is visible -this feature is diagnostic of Lanner.

 

Taita Falcons aren't much bigger than Merlins!

 

Maybe Inyathi or TZ birder would like to give their opinions as I fear we won't reach agreement on this one.

 

I managed to miss all this discussion (thanks to Rainbirder for pointing it out), there's no doubt that this is a Lanner. Structure is very typical lanner, in particular the long tail (check out the picture here for a typical Taita short stubby tail shot). And whilst the amount of rufous underneath is variable, it's always there. Even more diagnostic is the colour of the back. In Lanners it's a greyish colour, with obviously paler rump/back/tail area, often with paler fringes (as here), in Taita it's always very dark slate grey, only juveniles have any fringing and it's still on a very dark background. Very nice pictures though!

[safaripics]

I stand corrected ;-)

[safaripics]

Currently en-route to Kenya so I will leave it to Rainbirder to give the yes/no to answers on the last image.