Category: Bird of the Week
Once a week, I will post the Bird of the Week, featuring a favourite East African species.
Often called “the most beautiful of the African starlings,” the Golden-breasted starling is a striking bird easily seen in the field. With a bright, metallic blue tail and back, which merges into the green of its head, white eyes and blue-violet wings, it gets its name from the yellow of its breast, belly, and upper tail covers, a color considered unique to African passerines.
The Golden-breasted starling is a slender-bodied bird with a fairly long bill and a long, graduated tail. Both males and females look alike. Typical of most starlings, the young are duller in color than the adults. The young are blackish with some green and the sides of the head and chest are ashy brown.
Mostly seen in Samburu national Reserve, Meru National Park and Tsavo East and West National Park
Wattled Plover (Vanellus senegallus)
A large and very distinctive Plover. Both the male and female have long yellow facial wattles as well as smaller red ones on the forehead. As with all the lapwings of the genus Vanellus, the Wattled Plover has a white wing stripe (visible in flight) and a white base to its tail. These birds are fairly common in the Maasai Mara and can also be found around Lake Victoria. Although they are residents of swamps, streams and lakes they are only occasionally seen near the Rift Valley Lakes
Photo@Yan Van Dainne
Fish owls differ from other owls in that they have no feathers on their feet. Additionally, they lack the noiseless flight typical of owls, perhaps because their submerged prey is less able to hear their approach. Three species of fish owl occurs in Africa . Pel’s Fishing Owl snatch their prey while skimming the water surface. In Kenya it is found in Maasai Mara and Samburu national reserve along the the Mara rive and Ewaso Ngiro rivers.
Photo@Michael Sammut
Gabar Goshawk is smaller than other Goshawks. We can observe two morphs, one grey and one almost black. This melanistic form represents about 6 to 25 % of population. The photo shown above is of a juvenile bird.
In typical grey morph, adult has plain grey upperparts and white rump. Tail is grey, barred with black.Underparts are plain grey on chest. Belly is white, barred with grey. Vent is white. Flight feathers are sooty-grey with very pale grey bars. Tail is white with broad dark grey bars.
Head is grey. Bill is black, with red cere and gape. Eyes are deep dark red. Long bare legs and stocky toes are bright red.
Gabar Goshawk lives in savannahs and semi-arid scrub with scattered trees. It avoids too dense forests and driest deserts. It is rather found in drier thorn savannah, and also along watercourses.In Kenya it is commonly seen in Lake Baringo and Bogoria, Tsavo West and East National and Samburu National Reserve.
Photo@Yan Van Dainne
Martial Eagle is the one of the huge eagle we have in Kenya.It is a large eagle, growing to a length of 76-83 cm with a wingspan of 190-260 cm. The adult’s plumage has dark brown upperparts, head and upper chest. The body underparts are white streaked with black. The underwing coverts are brown, with pale flight feathers, also streaked with black. The female is usually larger and more streaked than the male. The immature is paler above and has white underparts. It reaches adult plumage in its seventh year.
The Martial Eagle can be found throughout Kenya, wherever food is abundant and the environment favourable. It is never common, but greater population densities exist in Nairobi, Samburu and Maasai Mara National Parks, these birds are more abundant in protected areas than unprotected. It avoids dense forests but needs trees to nest in. The territory can vary greatly in size from more than 1000 Km² to areas where nests are less than 10 km distant. This disparity is due to differences in food supply.
Photo@Jurg Hosang
Green-backed or Striated Heron as it is sometimes known is a small,short-legged heron with characteristic of a hunched posture.Adult bird appear dark greyish above with greenish-black erectile crown feathers;grey below with white throat and with a broad chestnut-buff line down foreneck.Legs and feet yellow(orange or red-orange when breeding;bill rather short,blackish with greenish-yellow base and yellow eyes.
Generally Striated heron is a shy and solitary bird, and likes creeping low a long waterside three or roots, and it is mainly diurnal.Well distributed and common in wetlands.
Photo@Yan Van Danne
Rufous-crowned or Purple Roller has it is sometimes referred to is a very uncommon compared to other species of Rollers, with exception of Abyssinian Roller.It feed on big insect and it can be observed from one spot for some time as it scanned and goes for his prey and returning to the same location .
The bird is generally purple as the name suggest with violet tailed and a little spot on the wing shoulder.It is the biggest roller we have in East Africa, therefore identifying this bird should never be a problem at all.
It is very common in areas around Lake Baringo, Lake Bogoria, Kerio Valley, Kapedo, Samburu National reserve and Meru National Park.
Photo@Joseph Aengwo
Southern Ground Hornbill is a large, turkey sized terrestrial bird, black-plumaged except for white primaries, conspicuous in flight. Adult bird has a bright red bare skin around eyes and on the neck, where usually somewhat inflated;eyes pale yellow; bill back, with small casque at the base above.
Pairs or small groups walk about in search for insects and small vertebrates.It will tend to take flight only when disturbed or alarmed.Widespread but partially distributed in open grassland and savanna around Nairobi National Park, Maasai Mara, Central Rift Valley a round Lake Nakuru and Naivasha and Kakamega forest, Mt.Elgon and Kapenguria.
Kenya Birding 