Pafuri lies within the northernmost a part of the Kruger Nationwide Park and is described as “among the most probably productive birding territory in South Africa” on the SANParks web site.
The White-backed Vulture was “not thought-about of conservation concern till 2007, after which its menace standing has been efficiently elevated, turning into Critically Endangered in 2015 following extreme decline in a number of elements of vary and probability of constant decline.” (HBW)
One research discovered that birds residing in Botswana had elevated ranges of lead of their bloods throughout searching season, presumably coming from lead bullets used on animals killed by hunters.
Different – sadly slightly frequent – causes are habitat loss resulting from agricultural growth and using some veterinary medicine.
A barely extra stunning menace for the vultures comes from elephants. Elephants destroy the timber the vultures reside and nest in. Vultures, due to this fact, have a tendency to not nest in areas with excessive elephant populations (supply).
Unhealthy developments certainly, significantly because the White-backed Vulture was discovered to be a superb avian biomonitor species – if it does badly, probably the atmosphere as an entire will do badly, too.
Jameson’s Firefinch is a lovely small chicken named for what was in all probability a really dangerous particular person, James Sligo Jameson.
In response to the Eponym Dictionary of Birds (Helm, 2014), “James Sligo Jameson (1856–1888) was an Irish hunter, explorer, and naturalist. He collected in … the Belgian Congo, the place he died of hemorrhagic fever at Bangala … In response to his obituary in The Instances (8 November 1890), he witnessed a cannibal banquet within the Higher Congo and was accused by Stanley of instigating it.”
A extra detailed – and extra horrifying – description is given at birdnamesforbirds.com:
“It’s seemingly on this context that Jameson, completely satisfied that the native folks have been cannibals, supplied a pacesetter of the group six handkerchiefs in trade for them killing and consuming a ten yr outdated woman bought for that goal. The passage through which he describes this occasion in his journal is extremely repugnant, each for its violence and its intense racism”.
This could be an excellent species to be renamed.
After all, that’s the huge matter of the web site quoted above: “Fowl Names For Birds – As a result of birds do not want eponymous or honorific frequent names”.
eBird’s description Blacksmith Lapwings as “daring and courageous dad and mom” as they “have been identified to launch defensive assaults on African Elephants”. Overconfident and silly, extra like …
Anyway, it virtually appears as if elephants are the most important menace to birds at Letaba – see the bit on the White-backed Vulture above …
The title of the species derives from the repeated metallic ‘tink, tink, tink’ alarm name suggesting a blacksmith’s hammer putting an anvil (supply). Perhaps the chicken thinks this can drive the elephants away?
eBird provides a sympathetic description of the Ring-necked Dove: “A small, principally gray-brown ‘ringneck’ dove with a gentle-looking darkish eye”.
I’ve to confess that this identification is generally primarily based on location – Wikipedia additionally states that “various Streptopelia species are very comparable in look, all having semi-collars and subdued plumage tones”. Undecided whether or not all of them have gentle-looking eyes although.
For the reason that final time it was made enjoyable of in my weblog, the Marabu Stork has not gotten any prettier.
I believe I missed discussing the Terrestrial Brownbul in my in-depth overview of bulbuls, as I solely looked for bulbuls, greenbuls, and finchbills amongst my photograph assortment when writing that publish.
Nonetheless, because the title “brownbul” suggests (not helped by the “terrestrial”, which sounds slightly down-to-earth too), this isn’t a chicken you’d proudly take a photograph of and ship to your mom must you get married to it. eBird calls it “a uninteresting, darkish brown, gregarious understory brownbul”.
German buddies just lately despatched me a photograph of a chicken they’d not seen earlier than (they faux to be taken with birds now in a hopeless try and impress me). I might instantly inform them it was an Egyptian Goose – an invasive species in Germany however not at Kruger.
The HBW states that “even of their native vary of Africa, they’re thought-about pests resulting from their willingness to eat farmer’s crops and their prevalence on golf programs”. I’ve to say, destroying golf programs clearly is one thing I maintain of their favor.
It generally nonetheless amazes me how a lot scientific work is completed to show the bleeding apparent (properly, I suppose that’s what all of the free work of Ph.D. college students turns out to be useful). For instance, this research confirmed that Malachite Kingfishers spent extra time searching in areas with extra fish.
Within the language of a scientific paper, that is phrased as “Fish density turned out to be an important ecological parameter”. Sounds a bit extra spectacular, I suppose.
In case you are a slightly silly or inexperienced Grey Go-Away Fowl, you’re more likely to construct your nest in mistletoe. A research discovered that the survival for nests in mistletoe was 22.1% in contrast with 90.5% for nests in different substrates over the 50-day nesting interval.
Nicely, really the research does not likely name these mistletoe nesters silly – that may be a bit too unkind, apparently – however slightly states that “nesting in mistletoe could also be maladaptive”. One way or the other this looks like a superb second to say the Darwin Awards however so far as I do know, they’re solely given to people, to not animals.
Apparently, in some areas the place Cattle Egrets don’t primarily affiliate with cattle however with different animals, their title within the native language adjustments accordingly. So, you’d have a “Hippopotamus Egret”, a “Rhinoceros Egret” or an “Elephant Fowl” (supply).
There are about 16 chicken species known as robin-chats. To me, the hyphen nonetheless in some way appears to counsel that these birds are constructed from elements of two totally different birds, which is clearly nonsense … It is a White-throated Robin-Chat.
At Pafuri, the Crimson-backed Shrike was in all probability the species that seemed closest to some species I’m aware of from Shanghai.
Additionally, I discovered that the phrase “shrike” is from Outdated English scric, scríc“shriek”, a reference to the shrill name of the chicken (supply: Oxford English Dictionary).
I suppose that is the wind, not a extremely individualistic coiffure.
Retz’s Helmetshrike is among the 8 helmetshrikes inside the bigger household of Vangidae – apparently, a household that advanced from a single Madagascar-based species.
Typical for the fantastic world of ornithology, it isn’t a shrike. And I don’t see a lot of a helmet both.
The particular person the Retz’s Helmetshrike is known as for – the Swedish anatomist Anders Retzius – has come underneath disrepute as he believed in humankind being derived from totally different races. He additionally laid the groundwork for some pseudoscience – phrenology – “the research of the conformation of the cranium as indicative of psychological colleges and traits of character” (Brittanica).
Due to this fact, in 2015, the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography stopped awarding the Anders Retzius Medal (supply). Why a poor chicken nonetheless has to put on his title shouldn’t be instantly apparent to me.
In higher pictures than this one, the Jap Nicator really seems fairly fascinating.
My excuse comes from a web site on South African birds: “Shy and skulking, the Jap Nicator is extra usually heard than seen and is unquestionably not the kind of chicken that may sit out within the open for all to see and {photograph}. … It often goes unnotified within the habitat it frequents”
That could be very totally different from the Rufous-crowned Curler, a showboat with a choice for sitting conspicuously within the open. It’s the heaviest among the many rollers in Africa.
Someplace within the outbacks of the Periodical System of Birds, there’s a household named Malaconotidae (Bushshrikes and Allies), which incorporates the genus Tchagra and therein the species Brown-crowned Tchagra.
Strive to not combine this species up with the phrase chacra – in accordance with this presumably extremely scientific web site, “The seven chakras are the principle power facilities of the physique. You’ve got in all probability heard folks speak about ‘unblocking’ their chakras, which refers to the concept when all of our chakras are open, power can run by way of them freely, and concord exists between the bodily physique, thoughts, and spirit.”
To make clear: Tchagra = Fowl species = Can’t be unblocked. Chakra = Power Heart of the Physique = Might be unblocked. Mixing these two up is harmful for you and probably for the chicken.
On zooniverse.com, I discovered the next temporary entry (with out further context): “It is a #starling, both Burchell’s Starling or Meves’s Starling.”
That got here as a aid as had issues figuring out the pictures beneath. I believe these two could also be Meves’s Starling …
… whereas I’m not certain in any respect about these ones.
By the way, each are named after European scientists – one after the German ornithologist Friedrich Wilhelm Meves, the opposite after the English naturalist William John Burchell. The Wikipedia biography of the latter incorporates the marginally grisly assertion “Burchell died in Fulham in 1863, ending his personal life by hanging himself in a small outhouse in his backyard, after a non-fatal suicide try by capturing”.
After all, Pafuri additionally has the standard ineffective non-birds that distract birders from what issues. As it’s customary in my weblog, I’ll politely keep away from commenting on their many deficiencies in comparison with the avian world.
