Yellow-throated Sandgrouse (Pterocles gutturalis)

Yellow-throated Sandgrouse (Pterocles gutturalis)

Photo@Raymond Galea

Yellow-throated Sandgrouse is a sexual diamorphic species The female and male both have a buff-yellow chin and throat. The male is olive-brown and unspotted with a black collar on its foreneck. Upper wing-coverts are tipped with a light cinnamon and flight feathers are blackish brown. highs and belly are a dark chestnut. Females are mottled with fine black bars on their chestnut belly.These monogamous birds are also solitary nesters. They lay two to three eggs during the winter. The female incubates the eggs during the day and the male incubates them at night, for a total of 26 days. The female and male both care for the chicks when they hatch.They are seed and grains eaters.The bird appearing above was photographed inside Ngorongoro Crater.The yellow-throated sandgrouse is the largest of the five Kenyan Sandgrouses.In Kenya it is best seen in areas found in Southern part of the Country around Amboseli, Masai Mara and Tsavo west national park.

Greater Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii)

Greater Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii)
Michael Sammut

Greater Crested Tern is a prominently crested coastal bird, which appears slightly smaller than Caspian Tern.At rest it appears elongated, with long wings  and large pale yellow billed which drops at the tip.On flight the tail appear very forked. A breeding adult has a black cap separated from the bill by a narrow white band. In Kenya it commonly seen a long the coast especially in areas around Sabaki delta,  Mida-Creek and Diani Beach.