Birds of a Feather Travelling in Tanzania and Mozambique

Flocks fly to watering holes at dawn and dusk. Their legs are feathered down to the toes. Bustards are large terrestrial birds mainly associated with dry open country and steppes in the Old World. 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. 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. 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.

• The Anger Workbook for Teens: Activities to Help You Deal with Anger and Frustration!
• For the love of birds - Travel Africa Magazine.
• Birds of A Feather: The Africa Edition;
• Nylsvley Nature Reserve - a floodplain perfect for every type of feather;
• Die Segmentberichterstattung nach IFRS 8 als Schnittstelle zwischen interner und externer Unternehmensberichterstattung (German Edition).
• Nylsvley Nature Reserve | Birding in South Africa | Bird Watching (GL).

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.

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.

• best Mozambique images on Pinterest | Africa travel, News south africa and South Africa.
• 96 best Birds of Tanzania images on Pinterest | Birds, Bird feathers and Tanzania.
• !
• Rat Trap.
• Africa’s Summer Bird, the White Stork | African Wildlife Foundation!

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.

Navigation menu

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.

Stork travels 7, km from Turkey to Mozambique, study shows - Daily Sabah

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. Enter your email address. Sign up with Facebook Sign up with LinkedIn. Wildlife safari Nylsvley Nature Reserve - a floodplain perfect for every type of feather. Add to wish list Find a Travel Trade Partner. Food When to visit How to get here. Explore now Add to wish list.

Malachite Kingfisher

How to get here. Best time to visit. What will it cost. Traditional African food in South Africa. Adventure across the provinces of South Africa. Adventure across the provinces of South Africa 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. Travel tips for pets - the unconventional family members. Travel tips for pets - the unconventional family members Often our pets are part of the family. Train journeys - an unforgettable experience with someone special. Train journeys - an unforgettable experience with someone special 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?

Lake Fundudzi - the work of the Venda Gods. Lake Fundudzi - the work of the Venda Gods Geologists say Lake Fundudzi in Limpopo 's northernmost reaches is one of a very few in the world to have been formed by landslide. Add the arid plains of the north, the misty peaks of the Rwenzori, and a profusion of lakes and wetlands — including the source of the Nile and the shores of Lake Victoria — and you have an exceptionally rich mosaic of habitats, each with its own assemblage of birds. My tour started four days earlier at Murchison Falls National Park, where the Victoria Nile thunders over the mighty cataract and flows west into Lake Albert.

Wildlife was certainly plentiful: It was clear from this first drive that feathers would be vying with fur for our attention throughout the trip. Murchison Falls is known to birders as a hotspot for the near-mythical shoebill. On an afternoon river cruise, while passengers admired elephants cavorting in the shallows and crocodiles slipping off the bank, I scanned the papyrus for this enormous, bizarre-looking swamp bird.

Birds of A Feather: The Africa Edition

With our boatman Yusef nudging us expertly along the bank, our craft became a perfect photography hide, allowing us to snap malachite kingfishers on reed stems and yellow-naped weavers fashioning their intricate nests. There were no rarities here, but the sheer abundance was breath-taking: Pied kingfishers — a bird generally seen elsewhere in ones and twos — were hovering and plunging by the dozen, while African fish eagles yodelled overhead. Later, as we drove through the dripping greenery of the southern Ishasha sector, the birds were making up for lost time.

Widowbirds cruised over the grass heads, coucals bubbled from thickets, and every bush seemed festooned with larks, longclaws, chats and cisticolas — each diminutive songster belting out its territorial claim. The beauty of such profusion was, I found, that priorities seldom conflicted. Great birds and big game were generally in the very same place — sometimes even in the same binocular scope. This was ably demonstrated that afternoon, as we watched green pigeons gorging on figs within touching distance of four slumbering lions draped over the same branches.

And the following morning we found at least vultures queueing behind hyena at a buffalo carcass.

Given the decline of vultures across East Africa, this grisly spectacle was a cheering sight. Lunch stops during our long drives from park to park invariably saw us working through the field guide to resolve some earlier ID conundrum, binoculars in hand. Local expertise was invaluable at the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, just outside Kibale, where I walked a 2.

My guide James was impressive, finding me local specials such as green hylia and locating elusive black cuckoo and yellow-billed barbet high in the canopy. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, my next destination after Queen, makes the world wildlife bucket list for its gorilla trekking. But this high-altitude forest also offers surprise, surprise!

• .
• Subordination (RLE Feminist Theory): Feminism and Social Theory (Routledge Library Editions: Feminist Theory).
• Le secret de Carina (Les Historiques) (French Edition).
• Es wächst kein Gras in Sektor Drei (John Mayer - Teil 1) (German Edition).
• Settimo Rapporto. Processo di liberalizzazione della società italiana (Il punto) (Italian Edition).
• .
• Animals~ Birds~ Reptiles~ Insects~ Fine Art and Poetry Edition.

Relaxing at Bwindi Buhoma Lodge, after meeting the great apes, I struggled to get to grips with the species flitting around my chalet. But the following day, I had the help of two outstanding guides, Richard and Emmanuel, as we set out on the Ivy Trail — a four-hour trek from one side of the forest to the other. In this cathedral of green, beneath towering newtonias and spreading tree ferns, the birds came thick and fast. Colour and movement low down betrayed such shy forest-floor denizens as equatorial akalat and red-throated alethe, while mixed feeding parties brought such gems as purple-throated cuckoo-shrike and white-headed wood-hoopoe.

Every call was something new: For me, nothing could top the pair of dazzling black bee-eaters perched atop a forest emergent, their black, scarlet and turquoise livery illuminated in sunlight against the canopy behind. Again, it was the sense of profusion, more than the individual species, that most impressed.