More Birds from Southern Africa

These are photos again taken by my friend, Christelle Miller, during 2018.

Thanks go to Christelle for allowing me to use these photos on my blog.

As always, I hope that my identification is correct, please let me know if there should be any mistakes.

Cape rock thrush (Monticola rupestris). This large stocky rock thrush measures 19-21 cm in length. The summer (breeding) male has a blue-grey head, orange underparts and outer tail feathers, and brown wings and back.  Females have a brown head. The plumage below is a rich orange. The outer tail feathers are reddish.  Juveniles resemble the female but can be identified by the buff spots on the upper plumage and the black scaling on the plumage below.  The average clutch of eggs consists of 2-3 eggs placed in a cup nest typically situated in a rock cavity or on a ledge. They feed on insects and other small animals. They may take berries.

Black heron (Egretta ardesiaca) also known as the black egret. It is well known for its habit of using its wings to form a canopy when fishing.  See photos below.

The black heron feeds by day but especially prefers the time around sunset. It roosts communally at night, and coastal flocks roost at high tide. The primary food of the black heron is small fish, but it will also eat aquatic insects, crustaceans and amphibians.

The nest of the black heron is constructed of twigs placed over water in trees, bushes, and reed beds, forming a solid structure. The heron nests at the beginning of the rainy season, in single or mixed-species colonies that may number in the hundreds. The eggs are dark blue and the clutch is two to four eggs.

Goliath heron (Ardea goliath), also known as the giant heron, Both sexes are similar. Juveniles resemble adults, but they are duller. They live in varied wetlands, lakes, marshes, mangroves and sometimes river deltas. It walks slowly in deeper water than other herons, or it stands in shallow waters, on floating vegetation, watching in the water at its feet, searching for prey. When prey appears, it spears it with an open bill. This heron may capture large fishes, with weights about 2 to 3 kg, and it carries them to the shore to eat them quietly.  They are often seen singly or in isolated pairs. It usually nests solitary, but sometimes in mixed colonies with other heron species. It breeds from June to January. The nest is large, made with sticks and is located in trees, low bushes, on rocks or islands in mangroves, but also on the ground in reed beds, always very close or above water.  The female lays 2 to 3 pale blue eggs. Incubation lasts about four weeks, shared by both parents. Chicks are tended by both adults, but often a sibling dies under aggressive acts from the oldest. Young need about six weeks to fledge and perform their first flight. It is generally a nocturnal bird, also seen at dusk, feeding in wetlands. 

Kori bustard (Ardeotis kori). It is Africa's heaviest flying bird, the male can weigh up to 19 kg, the female is usually half the size of the male. They live in open grasslands and lightly wooded savannahs. It is omnivorous and feeds on insects (locusts) which are a large part of its diet. Chicks are fed mainly with insects. It can eat also small mammals, lizards, snakes, but also seeds, berries and plants. It doesn’t migrate as much as other birds. It moves only if it needs food or water. It flies only when necessary, because of its weight. Its flight is strong with slow flapping wings. It takes off with very heavy wing beats, but once in flight, it flies quickly and strongly. Nesting, the female prepares a shallow scraped depression in the ground. She lays 1 to 2 pale olive eggs, mottled with brown. Incubation lasts about 23 to 24 days, only by the female.  Chicks can follow their mother some hours after hatching. Young remain with her after the fledging period, at about five weeks.  They reach their sexual maturity at about 2 years.  This species produces only one clutch per year.

African openbill stork (Anastomus lamelligerus).  It has an unusual bill well adapted to the feeding behaviour of its species. These birds feed mainly on large aquatic snails of the genus Pila, and this type of bill is used to extract the mollusc from the shell. Adults are similar though the male is larger. It frequents mainly extensive freshwater wetlands, and it is often found in marshes, swamps, margins of lakes and rivers and rice fields. It nests in colonies of varying numbers of pairs. They nest in trees, usually over water, and sometimes in reedbeds. Female lays 3-4 oval, chalky-white eggs. Incubation is shared by both sexes and lasts about 25-30 days.  At hatching, the downy chicks are black with a normal bill. The gap will develop over several years.  They are fed by both parents and fledge about 50-55 days after hatching.

Immature Bateleur Eagle [I Think] (Terathopius ecaudatus). The Bateleur spends most of the time in the day on the wing, soaring effortlessly. It flies almost the entire day, until the cooler hours of the evening. It may fly well over 300 km every day, during 8 to 9 hours. During the day, it sometimes perches in a tree, close to carrion, where it may try to pirate smaller raptors. When not in flight, the Bateleur perches or stands on the ground usually near water......

Bateleur eagles pair for life and they reuse the same nest year after year. It is a sociable species, but the pair is territorial and lives alone in most areas. The female lays one chalky white egg in the dry season. Incubation lasts about 52 to 59 days, mainly by the female, but the male sometimes assists her. The male feeds the female close to the nest, or sometimes it gives her food by an aerial pass.  Chicks are fed by both parents. The young leave the nest about 110 days after hatching, but parents continue to feed it for another 100 days. It is independent at 4 months of age and has a longer tail than adults for stability, which helps it during the first flights.

Magpie shrike (Urolestes melanoleucus), also known as the African long-tailed shrike. It feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly on invertebrates and fruits. Living in woodlands, grasslands and riverine areas. You will normally see the bird in pairs or flocks and not often as single birds. It often performs co-operative breeding, with the breeding pair and some helpers, usually young birds from the previous brood. The female lays 3-5 buff or yellow eggs with darker spots. The incubation lasts 16-20 days by the breeding female. She is fed by the male, and occasionally by other members of the group. The chicks are fed by both parents and one or more helpers, and then, the young of the first brood feed the chicks of the following clutch.  The nestling period lasts between 19 and 24 days, and the young are able to feed themselves during the second week after leaving the nest. But they still depend on adults for up to 8 weeks, during which the parents feed them at a decreasing rate.

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