Birds of a Feather Travelling in Tanzania and Mozambique

Nylsvley Nature Reserve - a floodplain perfect for every type of feather

---

They are omnivorous and nest on the ground. They walk steadily on strong legs and big toes, pecking for food as they go. They have long broad wings with "fingered" wingtips and striking patterns in flight. Many have interesting mating displays. The turacos, plantain-eaters, and go-away-birds make up the family Musophagidae.

List of birds of Tanzania

They are medium-sized arboreal birds. The turacos and plantain-eaters are brightly colored, usually in blue, green, or purple. The go-away birds are mostly gray and white. The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos , roadrunners , and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs.

Malachite Kingfisher

The Old World cuckoos are brood parasites. Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is camouflaged to resemble bark or leaves. Swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long swept-back wings which resemble a crescent or boomerang.

The flufftails are a small family of ground-dwelling birds found only in Madagascar and sub-Saharan Africa.

Navigation menu

Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails , crakes , coots , and gallinules. Typically they inhabit dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps, or rivers. In general they are shy and secretive birds, making them difficult to observe. Most species have strong legs and long toes which are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces. They tend to have short rounded wings and to be weak fliers. Heliornithidae is a small family of tropical birds with webbed lobes on their feet similar to those of grebes and coots.

Cranes are large, long-legged, and long-necked birds. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Most have elaborate and noisy courting displays or "dances". The thick-knees are a group of largely tropical waders in the family Burhinidae. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone, with some species also breeding in temperate Europe and Australia. They are medium to large waders with strong black or yellow-black bills, large yellow eyes, and cryptic plumage. Despite being classed as waders, most species have a preference for arid or semi-arid habitats.

Recurvirostridae is a family of large wading birds, which includes the avocets and stilts. The avocets have long legs and long up-curved bills. The stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills. The oystercatchers are large and noisy plover -like birds, with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs.

The family Charadriidae includes the plovers , dotterels , and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, usually pointed, wings. They are found in open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water. Painted-snipes are short-legged, long-billed birds similar in shape to the true snipes, but more brightly colored. The jacanas are a group of waders in the family Jacanidae which are found throughout the tropics. They are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat.

Scolopacidae is a large diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds including the sandpipers , curlews , godwits , shanks , tattlers , woodcocks , snipes , dowitchers , and phalaropes. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Variation in length of legs and bills enables multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food. The buttonquails are small, drab, running birds which resemble the true quails. The female is the brighter of the sexes and initiates courtship. The male incubates the eggs and tends the young.

The crab-plover is related to the waders. It resembles a plover but has very long grey legs and a strong heavy black bill similar to that of a tern. It has black-and-white plumage, a long neck, partially webbed feet, and a bill designed for eating crabs. Glareolidae is a family of wading birds comprising the pratincoles , which have short legs, long pointed wings, and long forked tails, and the coursers , which have long legs, short wings, and long, pointed bills which curve downwards.

The family Stercorariidae are, in general, medium to large birds, typically with gray or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. They nest on the ground in temperate and arctic regions and are long-distance migrants. Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds which include the gulls , kittiwakes , terns , and skimmers. Gulls are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with gray or white plumage, often with black markings on the head.

Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water. Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species known to live in excess of 30 years. Skimmers are a small family of tropical tern-like birds. They have an elongated lower mandible which they use to feed by flying low over the water surface and skimming the water for small fish.

Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans, with exceptionally long central tail feathers. Their heads and long wings have black markings. The albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, and the great albatrosses from the genus Diomedea have the largest wingspans of any extant birds. The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterised by united nostrils with medium septum and a long outer functional primary. Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. Storks are mute, but bill-clattering is an important mode of communication at the nest.

Their nests can be large and may be reused for many years. Many species are migratory. Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over tropical oceans. They are large, black-and-white, or completely black, with long wings and deeply forked tails. The males have colored inflatable throat pouches. They do not swim or walk and cannot take off from a flat surface. Having the largest wingspan-to-body-weight ratio of any bird, they are essentially aerial, able to stay aloft for more than a week. The sulids comprise the gannets and boobies. Both groups are medium to large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish.

Darters are often called "snake-birds" because of their long thin neck, which gives a snake-like appearance when they swim with their bodies submerged. The males have black and dark-brown plumage, an erectile crest on the nape, and a larger bill than the female. The females have much paler plumage especially on the neck and underparts. The darters have completely webbed feet and their legs are short and set far back on the body. Their plumage is somewhat permeable, like that of cormorants, and they spread their wings to dry after diving. Phalacrocoracidae is a family of medium to large coastal, fish-eating seabirds that includes cormorants and shags.

Plumage coloration varies, with the majority having mainly dark plumage, some species being black-and-white, and a few being colorful. Pelicans are large water birds with a distinctive pouch under their beak. As with other members of the order Pelecaniformes, they have webbed feet with four toes. The shoebill is a large bird related to the storks.

It derives its name from its massive shoe-shaped bill. The hamerkop is a medium-sized bird with a long shaggy crest.

The shape of its head with a curved bill and crest at the back is reminiscent of a hammer, hence its name. Its plumage is drab-brown all over. The family Ardeidae contains the bitterns , herons , and egrets.

Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Because it is a large, heavy bird, it avoids flying if possible and spends most of its time on the ground, foraging for the seeds and lizards which make up most of its diet. Kori bustards are polygynous. One male will display to attract several females and then mate with them all, leaving them to care for the young on their own.

The body of the grey crowned crane is mainly gray. The wings are predominantly white, but contain feathers with colors ranging from white to brown to gold. The head is topped with a crown of stiff golden feathers. Cheek patches are white, and a red gular sack is present under the chin.

Legs and toes are black and the bill is short and dark gray. They have long hind toes that allow then to roost in trees. All cranes engage in dancing, which includes various behaviors such as head pumping, bowing, jumping, running, stick or grass tossing, and wing flapping. Although primarily done as a part of mating rituals, dances are often performed outside of the breeding season as well. The secretary bird is a large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey.

Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savannah of the sub-Sahara. It has traditionally been admired in Africa for its striking appearance and has been a common motif for African countries on postage stamps. The secretary bird hunts its prey on foot. Prey consists of insects, small mammals, lizards, snakes, young birds, bird eggs, and sometimes dead animals killed in grass or bush fires.

It also waits near fires, eating anything it can that is trying to escape. Secretary birds associate in monogamous pairs. During courtship, they exhibit a nuptial display by soaring high with undulating flight patterns and calling with guttural croaking. Males and females can also perform a grounded display by chasing each other with their wings up and back, much like the way they chase prey.

The African masked weaver or southern masked weaver, found throughout southern Africa, is very widespread and found in a wide range of habitats, including shrubland, savanna, grassland, open woodland, inland wetlands and semi-desert areas. It also occurs in suburban gardens and parks.

It is usually seen singly or in small groups, but may also form larger flocks, alone or with other seed eating species. It eats insects, seeds and nectar. The adult male in breeding plumage has a black face, throat and beak, red eye, bright yellow head and under parts, and a plain yellowish-green back.

Exhibiting intricate nest-building techniques, African masked weavers build their nests in trees or reeds, often over water. Their nests, like those of other weavers, are woven from reed, palm or grass.

A female will line a selected nest with soft grass and feathers. Found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, African fish eagles are found primarily along bodies of water including rivers, lakes, floodplains, coasts, estuaries, mangrove lagoons, and swamps. Their primary food source, as the name implies, is fish. An individual may consume half a pound of fish per day. It often requires several attempts before a successful catch occurs, with only one in seven to eight attempts ending in success. Adult African fish eagles are large, readily recognizable raptors, with their pure white head, neck, chest, and tail and dark chestnut brown body.

They have broad, rather long wings, and a fairly short, rounded tail.

The southern ground hornbill is the largest of two species of ground hornbill the other is the northern ground hornbill. It is characterized by black coloration and vivid red patches of bare skin on the face and throat yellow in juvenile birds. It lives in groups of five to ten individuals including adults and juveniles. The habitat of the southern ground hornbill comprises savannas, woodlands and grasslands and it forages on the ground, where it feeds on reptiles, frogs, snails, insects and mammals up to the size of hares. The southern ground hornbill is a vulnerable species, mainly confined to national reserves and national parks.

The collared sunbird is a common breeder across most of sub-Saharan Africa. Two or three eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. It feeds largely on nectar, although it will also eat insects, especially when feeding its young. Although the collared sunbird can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, it usually perches to feed. Found in forests near water, collared sunbirds are tiny, only three to four inches long.

They have short thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to nectar feeding. The adult male has glossy green upper-parts and head with a yellow belly and narrow purple breast band. The female is a duller green above and entirely yellow below. Listed on the endangered species list, the jackass penguin, also known as the African or black-footed penguin, is the only penguin species found on the African continent.

They live in large colonies on rocky coastlines of southwest Africa.

The name jackass penguin comes from the loud, braying, donkey-like call they emit to communicate. At night they congregate on shore and during the day they feed in the water. They have black plumage on the back and white feathers with black markings on the chest and belly. The plumage serves as camouflage to predators, with the white appearing to aquatic predators from below and the black appearing to aerial predators from above. They also have a horseshoe-shaped white band that goes around the eye from the chin towards the beak. They feed primarily on shoaling pelagic fish and can reach speeds of up to twelve miles per hour in order to catch their prey.

Sacred ibises are native and abundant in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Iraq. They have all-white body plumage apart from dark plumes on the rump. Special breeds to look out for include Little Dwarf and Eurasian Bittern, 15 species of duck and geese, Allen's Gallinule, Lesser Moorhen as well as seven species of Crake and Rail, to mention a few. The surrounding area makes birding at Nylsvley extra interesting. The acacia thornveld is home to many dry-country species, which form an eclectic mix of birds that can also be found in the western Kalahari region and the eastern savannah region of the Kruger National Park.

Besides the waterbirds, the bushveld surrounding Nylsvley also offers great birding, with eight species of owls being recorded and a chance of seeing the spectacular Orange-breasted Bush Shrike and Crimson-breasted Shrike amongst the other bushveld species found here. Whether you are visiting for business or pleasure, South Africa caters for adrenaline junkies wanting to try something new and exciting, with an African twist. Often our pets are part of the family.

For some people that extends to travelling with their pets. What can beat that feeling of going to sleep with a Karoo moon in the sky outside, and waking up to a pot of fresh coffee, surrounded by Cape vineyards as the Blue Train makes her stately way into the Mother City? Geologists say Lake Fundudzi in Limpopo 's northernmost reaches is one of a very few in the world to have been formed by landslide. Set in the foothills of the beautiful Waterberg mountains, Bela-Bela's hot springs were originally used for healing purposes by the Tswana people hundreds of years ago. Trail running and Mountain Biking in South Africa is extremely popular, and a growing sport for many South Africans and visitors alike.

Yes, flying is quick but most of the magic of exploration lies on the ground. When you couple breathtaking scenery… https: Yes, flying is quick and easy but most of the magic of exploration lies on the ground. When you couple breathtaking scenery with a well maintained road network, South Africa is an ideal road trip destination. Sun City can confirm that Sun Central and the Valley of Waves will be open today for day visitors and hotel guests. More updates to follow. South Africans are pleased to have TherealTaraji here in the country as she explores Joburg ,the vibrant culture… https:

• Melmoth Reconciled
• Peanut and Fifi Have A Ball
• Broken Web The Coming Collapse of the Internet
• Gods Children and Monkeys Uncles:Evolution and Creationism for Common Folk
• Betriebliches Gesundheitsmanagement: Gesundheit und Wohlbefinden am Arbeitsplatz (German Edition)