Knysna Birds - The feathered kind.
A strange phenomena here on Steemit is the lack of posts around wildlife, in particular birds and bird types. I know there are a lot of bird watchers in the UK but that does not seem to be a passion shared by the rest of Europe and America. That is my perception and may not be fact!
A pity the head is blurred, Ring Necked Turtle doves are found through out South Africa and are relatively tame
On my recent trip to Knysna (I covered the fire's here ) i took some photo's of the birds around our chalet, so have decided to share some of them here.
Eastern Blackheaded Oriole is found through out Africa but not quite as far as the Western Cape. The voice is a liquid-sounding warble, accompanied by imitations and whistles.
Black Starling...sometimes called a Glossy Starling, these are scavengers and are quite ruthless about ganging up on weak or injured birds and killing them for food. This one was eating the crumbs on our veranda
Orange Breasted Sunbirds are extremely small and suck nectar from flowers and blossoms where possible. They have a beautiful mating song and are definitely one of my favorite birds
Thanks for reading!!
Hi @themagus...I am a very keen birdwatcher, but unfortunately I don't have the right camera to take good bird photos like your wonderful ones here. I do have to correct you on your ID's though. What you have called a black starling is in fact a Fork Tailed Drongo (you can just see the whiskers behind the beak that help them catch insects). Similiarly your Orange Breasted Sunbird is in fact a Greater Double Collared Sunbird (beautiful photo though).
No WAY JOSE..... damn, I am glad you saw my post. I argued with my girl for a long time that that was NOT a Starling. I almost did not include the pic I was so uncomfortable with identifying it as a Starling. So BIG thank you for the feedback. Now I used the Roberts Birds reference book to identify the exact name of the Sunbird... so what distinguishes the Greater Double Collared Sunbird from the Orange Breasted Sunbird...( although I suspect you are correct...{sulk} ) as the Double Collared is more common ..... 100% vote for your comment... I am super impressed !!
Hi @themagus, I'm glad you don't mind the corrections...it is how we learn. I've been birding since I was 8 years old (and I won't give away my age now). The Orange Breasted sunbird has yellow orange colouring all along its belly as you can see from this pic (from Wikimedia commons) - but if you google the bird you'll find better pics. It is also VERY unmistakeably orange. The double collared sunbirds (you'll see the Lesser Double Collared often in Cape Town) have a distinct band of colour and then brown below.
Nice....and that is why this community can thrive...methinks. And as regards age...no comment
Very interesting post. True and I agree with your opinion. I often share pictures of wildlife that exist in my area .. but not including birds, but I will share later about the bird .. good luck to your friends
Thank you kindly for reading.... and taking the time to respond. I shall go over and have a look at your blog!!
You are welcome.. Please, gladly I welcome you on my blog my friend :-)
Indonesia seems to have fantastic vegetation and nature. Surely there must be many birds there?
Really friends. Here are still many wild forests. We take care of it with our hearts. But still there are some people who do not understand about the importance of maintaining the habitat of wild animals including birds. But we can get over it. The next few days I will share pictures of beautiful and beautiful birds. Greetings know my good friend
Glad to hear...I will follow you and see how things progress. Take care
Okay my friend .. i am very grateful already care about my comment. I am glad to be acquainted with you .. regards know my good friend ..
Hi @themagus, I love your post and in particular, I love the photo of the sunbird. (Where did you stay in Knysna, I am thinking to go there in October)
Lake Pleasant in Sedgefield. Very good value for money
Thank you very much