This Lilac-breasted Roller was caught posing at the Lake Baringo Club over Christmas. It just couldn’t get enough of having its photo taken. Enjoy this set of photos of this beautiful bird!
Coming up, a report on birds spotted on a recent tour I guided, as well as the bird of the week, and much more!
– Joe
I’ve recently started to record bird songs using a Panasonic mp3 digital recorder and have been using it to call-back with it’s decent audio speaker. I will try to frequently post songs and accompanying photos of the birds singing when possible.
Here is a song of a Grey-capped Warbler (Eminia lepida) that I recorded in Eldoret, Kenya during an urban birding session.
– Joe
Rufous-naped Lark (Mirafra Africana)
The Rufous-naped Lark’s head is coloured brown as well as the bill. The Mirafra Africana has a white coloured throat, pink legs and a brown coloured back. The eyes are brown.
The male Mirafra africana has physical features that are slightly different from the female bird. When the bird is excited it has a richly striped rufous crown. In most observatory incidence the bird tends to call from a raised platform or rather on top of a medium sized tree.
In Kenya, the bird is widely distributed in areas around central Kenya, Lake Naivasha, Maasai Mara and Amboseli National park.
I recently spotted this Rufous-naped lark in the Maasai Mara National Reserve and recorded it’s song.
– Joe
Hunter’s Sunbird is widespread and found in most dry areas of Kenya; especially in wooded and bushed grassland, it will however avoid very dry desert-like environments. It can easily be mistaken for the Scarlet-chested and Amethyst Sunbird.
The adult male is a non-reflective velvety black, with more brownish on the back, and a glittering green crown which appears turquoise; the throat as well as the patch on the bend of the wing is metallic ruby or rose-purple.
The female is grey-brown above with white edged coverts. The under part is dull white, strongly mottled with sepia-brown on the throat and breast, more faintly on the belly and flanks washed brown, with chin and throat appearing darker .
It has a habit of being shy and solitary. It is widely distributed in dry areas like Samburu and Shaba National Reserve, Lake Baringo, Lake Bogoria and Kerio Valley.
I bird everywhere! Even in the urban landscapes of Kenya, in locations where one wouldn’t expect to be birding, it is possible to spot species with a keen eye. I spotted this Winding Cisticola on the outskirts of a residential area of Eldoret on an evening walk.
Coming soon your ‘Bird of the Week‘.
– Joe
Soaring in the East African skies and magical Kenyan landscapes. Some fantastic and inspiring photographs of birds in flight.
Have a great birding day!
– Joe
The Eastern Paradise Whydah is a small, widely occurring bird of eastern Africa. It gathers in flocks but separates into pairs during the mating season.Easten Paradise Whydah is a species specific brood parasite with its target being the Green-winged pytilia.
This bird is both dichromatic and dimorphic during the breeding season. When in “breeding mode”, the male has black plumage along its back and tail, with a yellow nape and chestnut colored lower breast and belly. It also grows new long- tail feathers. During the non-breeding season, it loses its striking black and yellow coloration, becoming brownish in color with black streaks on its head. The female has grayish, black-streaked upper-parts with a brown-colored head. Its breast is pale gray and its belly is white.
The Eastern Paradise Whydah feeds on grass seeds such as millet and wild oats, but will occasionally take termites and grubs.
It inhabits dry thorn scrub and open or woodland savannahs throughout eastern Africa. Fairly common after heavy rains both as a resident and a wonderer , appearing usually near watering areas. Well distributed in the area of Samburu, Meru, Lokichokio, Turkana, Tsavo and Amboseli National park.
A few important resources about Kenya’s Important Bird Areas.
A fantastic map of Kenya’s Important Bird Areas from Nature Kenya.
Also, from KenyaBirds, a listing table of the Important Bird Areas, Locations, Habitats, and threatened species.
Coming up soon, a Bird of the Week with a song I recorded while birding recently.
– Joe
Through my work with the Lake Baringo Biodiversity Conservation Group and growing up in the region, I have directly witnessed the decline and endangerment of the African Fish Eagle. This spectacular bird that feeds on fish is being poisoned by farmers and agricultural uses.
We at Lake Baringo Biodiversity Conservation Group were concerned about information received about a decline in the population of Fish Eagles for no clear reason and a huge increase in the water level in the lake. Whether this water level increase was good or bad for the general welfare of this vital wetland ecosystem, is a question that we cannot answer with precision without seeking the opinion of a biologist and receiving data to support our hypothesis .The researchers suggest that the decline of the Fish Eagle population in Lake Baringo is being driven by poisoning.
Munir Virani, who is director of Peregrine funds Africa programmes, has been carrying out research in this area, and has blamed this decline in the use of Furadan by farmers to poison crocodiles. Farmers occasionally lace the bodies of dead fish with a toxic pesticide called Furadan. This appears to be aimed at crocodiles that kill their livestock. Farmers use the fish to entice crocodiles into their death, however, not all poisonous fish are eaten by crocodiles, and some end up being eaten by Fish Eagles. If this is done rampantly it can easily wipe out the whole Fish Eagle population in Lake Baringo.
Additionally, the Fish Eagles in Lake Baringo have been trained to be eating dead fish by the local boat operators. They did this deliberately to allow tourists to have a closer view of this spectacular raptor picking up the fish. However, with farmers putting dead poisonous fish into the lake, Fish Eagles trained to eat dead fish subsequently consume these as well. Although the practice of enticing Fish Eagles with dead fish for tourism purposes has no direct detrimental effects on the species, due to the farmer’s practices this has become a serious concern. Unfortunately, no government institution mandated to protect wildlife has intervened to halt the practice of releasing dead poisonous fish into the lake.
Many members of LBBCG run boat excursion businesses for tourists, and have been trying to educate their clients of the risk that such practices pose to these birds of prey. We have subsequently, written to Nature Kenya and Kenya Wildlife Service informing them of the urgent need of an appropriate intervention.
Furadan, an insecticide, is an extremely toxic to mammals (including Humans!), invertebrates, fish and birds.
The plight of the African Fish Eagle and other wetland birds is being documented by Stop Wildlife Poisoning and WildLifeDirect.
In 2009, Dr. Richard Leakey at WildLifeDirect addressed the potential ban of Furadan in Kenya and FMC’s (Furadan manufacturer) withdrawal from the Kenyan market and its buy-back programme following the poisoning of lions in the Maasai Mara. Although in a follow-up article, the legality of the toxic insecticide in Kenya was still up for debate, and the death of wetland birds in Bunyala due to Furadan poisoning is still being observed in 2011.
Stop Wildlife Poisoning has geared up its awareness campaign and regularly posts about the use of pesticides in Kenya and the poisoning of birds due to Furadan. A video was produced for International Vulture Awareness day on September 2, 2011, and many other images and videos regarding the poisoning of Kenya’s birds can be viewed on Stop Widlife Poisoning’s website.
This disturbing and unacceptable use of pesticides needs to be addressed by the Government of Kenya and its East African neighbours.
– Joe
Important reading & resources:
Stop Wildlife Poisoning: Furadan in Kenya
November 30, 2012 bird is Northern Carmine Bee-eater Merops nubicus (photo@ tony crocetta)
Carmine Bee-eaters are carmine in color, except for its greenish blue head and throat, and the bold black mask-like stripe across their eyes. Their eyes are red and they have a black pointed de-curved beak. Their central tail feathers are elongated. Their legs and feet are blackish brown. The sexes are similar in appearance. It is one of the largest species of Merops at 35cm long. Young birds lack the elongated central tail feathers and are pinkish brown on the mantle, chest to belly, and flanks.
In Kenya they are passage migrant in the area and its distribution is found in the north western part of Kenya, extending all the way to coast, in areas around Watamu, Tsavo east, Meru national park, Turkana, Nasolot, Kerio Valley and Lake Baringo.
Northern Carmine bee-eaters hunt mainly by keeping watch for flying insects from a perch. The insect is snapped up in the bill, then the bird returns to the perch, where it beats the prey against the perch until it is inactive. A stinging insect is held near the tip of its tail and rubbed on the perch to be relieved of the venom and sting before being swallowed whole. Besides branches, Carmine Bee-eaters use the backs of game or cattle and even large birds, such as Jacksons Bustard or Storks as animate perches, waiting to catch any insects that they disturb. Carmine Bee-eaters also fly freely to bush fires to prey upon fleeing insects.
For the last 10 years of my birding life, I have never came across any species of bee-eater which fails impress!!! Have a great birding week.
– Joe
Kenya Birding 