Slaty Egret (Egretta vinaceigula)

Slaty Egret

It is a small, dark bird with yellow-green legs and feet, and a reddish brown throat. The bird is often spotted alone or in small groups, thriving in floodplains and marshes. It walks slowly, shambling their feet to surprise their frey. While they are commonly resident, populations outside its focus range may … Read more

Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus)

Pallid Harrier

It is a bird of prey whose males appear whitish gray, while females are harder to distinguish from their other harrier cousins. Barred primaries and darkish secondaries are conspicuous. When in flight, they look bulkier than Montagu’s Harrier but lighter than the Hen Harrier. It is a long-distance migrant, breeding mainly in … Read more

Striped Kingfisher (Halcyon chelicuti)

Stripped Kingfisher

It is a small, elegant kingfisher known for its powder-blue flight and tail feathers, dark-eye band, barred brown, and creamy white color. Solitary bird or pairs occurs in savannas, woodland, and thornveld. It catches attention with its exuberant “trreeerr-trreeerr-trreeerr” and resonant “teep-tiii-rrrrr” calls. Read further to know more about the Stripped Kingfisher. … Read more

Scimitar-billed Wood Hoopoe (Rhinopomastus cyanomelas)

Scimitar-billed Wood hoopoe

It is a long, matte bird renowned for its slender, greatly-decurved black bill. This bird species avoids forests and thrives in arid, densely-leaved woodlands singly or in pairs. Most of the time, they shin around trunks, foraging for invertebrates, sometimes joining other mixed-species groups. It is easily detected through its wistful, whistled … Read more

Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)

Squacco Heron

It is a bird that migrates from Europe to Africa during the winter, thriving in marshes, ponds, lakes, with reed beds and other vegetations. This bird pursues its prey quite sluggishly, crouching quietly at water edges. It is buffy brown at rest but becomes mostly white when in flight as its white … Read more

Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis)

Eastern Red-footed Kestrel

It is a small falcon, whose adult males sport a sooty-gray plumage with reddish-brown to orange vent and thighs. Females have subtler gray upperparts, while the underside is white, marked with darkish “V” marks. It is recognizable from its falcon cousins through its red-orange cere, eyering, and feet. A resilient migrant, it … Read more