Birds of the Serengeti

About this book 9
The habitats 12
Plains 13
Marsh & water 14
Woodland, scrub & garden 15
Acacia scrub 16
Village 17
Forest 18
Up in the air 19
Nightbirds 20
Lake Victoria specials 21
Map of the Serengeti & Ngorongoro Conservation Area - NCA 22

BIRDS OF THE PLAINS
The Big Ones: 1 - Ostrich 24
The Big Ones: 2 - Secretarybird & Grey Crowned Crane 26
Bustards - Kori, Black-bellied & White-bellied Bustards 28
Small plover & coursers - Double-banded & Temminck's Coursers & Kittlitz's Plover 30
Vanellus plovers - Crowned, Senegal & Black-winged Plovers 32
Sandgrouse - Black-faced, Yellow-throated & Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse 34
Storks & ground hornbill - White & Abdim's Storks & Southern Ground Hornbill 36
At the carcass - Marabou Stork & Rüppell's & White-backed Vultures 38
Vultures - White-headed, Hooded & Lappet-faced Vultures 40
Vultures in flight - all species for comparison 42
Black-and-white eagles & Egyptian Vulture - Martial & Black-chested Snake Eagles & Egyptian Vulture 44
Black-and-white eagles - Verreaux's Eagle, Augur Buzzard & Bateleur 46
Brown raptors - Black Kite & Tawny & Steppe Eagles 48
Raptors in flight - all species for comparison 50
Grey raptors - Pallid & Montagu's Harriers & African Harrier Hawk 52
Large falcon & grey kite - Lanner Falcon & Black-shouldered Kite 54
Small falcons - Grey, Common & Lesser Kestrels 56
Rollers - Lilac-breasted & Eurasian Rollers 58
Oxpeckers & starling - Red-billed & Yellow-billed Oxpeckers & Wattled Starling 60
Little brown jobs or 'LBJs' - Pectoral-patch & Zitting Cisticolas & Red-capped & Rufous-naped Larks 62
Sparrow lark & chats - Fischer's Sparrow Lark & Sooty & Anteater Chats 64
Wheatears - Capped, Northern & Pied Wheatears 66
Upright birds of the plains - Yellow-throated & Rosy-breasted Longclaws & Buffy & Grassland Pipits 68
Bishop & widowbirds - Yellow Bishop & Yellow-mantled & Jackson's Widowbirds 70

BIRDS OF MARSH & WATER
Flamingos - Greater & Lesser Flamingos 72
Wetland storks - Woolly-necked, Yellow-billed & African Open-billed Storks 74
Stork & ibises - Saddle-billed Stork & Sacred & Hadada Ibises 76
Small herons - Hamerkop & Striated & Squacco Herons 78
Large, dark herons - Goliath, Grey & Black-headed Herons 80
Egrets - Cattle, Little & Great White Egrets 82
Fish eagle - African Fish Eagle 84
Smaller ducks - Red-billed Teal & White-faced Whistling & Fulvous Whistling Ducks 86
Larger wildfowl - Spur-winged & Egyptian Geese & Knob-billed Duck 88
Birds of the water's edge - Black-winged Stilt, African Jacana & Black Crake 90
Wetland plovers - African Wattled, Blacksmith & Spur-winged Plovers 92
Waders: 1 - Water Thick-knee & Ruff 94
Waders: 2 - Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper & Three-banded Plover 96
Waders: 3 - Wood, Common & Green Sandpipers 98
Kingfishers - Giant, Malachite & Pied Kingfishers 100
Wagtails & waxbill - Yellow & African Pied Wagtails & Common Waxbill 102

BIRDS OF WOODLand, SCRUB & GARDEN
Open woodland raptors - Brown Snake & Long-crested Eagles & Steppe Buzzard 104
Bustard, thick-knee & courser - Buff-crested Bustard, Spotted Thick-knee & Heuglin's Courser 106
Spurfowl - Red-necked, Grey-breasted & Yellow-necked Spurfowl 108
Gamebirds - Helmeted Guineafowl & Coqui & Crested Francolins 110
'Collared' doves - Ring-necked, African Mourning & Red-eyed Doves 112
Distinctive pigeons & doves - Speckled & African Green Pigeons & Emerald-spotted Wood Dove 114
Doves & mousebird - Namaqua & Laughing Doves & Speckled Mousebird 116
Parrots & hornbill - Fischer's Lovebird, Meyer's Parrot & African Grey Hornbill 118
Large cuckoos & relatives - White-browed Coucal, Red-chested Cuckoo & Bare-faced Go-away-bird 120
Three green gems - Klaas's & Diederik Cuckoos & Little Bee-eater 122
Bush kingfishers - Striped, Woodland & Grey-headed Kingfishers 124
Hoopoes - Green Wood-hoopoe, Common Scimitarbill & Hoopoe 126
Barbets - Usambiro & Spot-flanked Barbets & Red-fronted Tinkerbird 128
Honeyguides & woodpecker - Greater & Lesser Honeyguides & Bearded Woodpecker 130
Woodpeckers - Green-backed, Nubian & Cardinal Woodpeckers 132
Large bushshrikes & oriole - Grey-headed Bushshrike, Tropical Boubou & Black-headed Oriole 134
Small black-and-white birds - Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Chin-spot Batis & Black-backed Puffback 136
White-fronted shrikes - Common & Grey-backed Fiscals & Northern White-crowned Shrike 138
Black birds of woodland edge - Common Drongo, Slate-coloured Boubou & Northern Black Flycatcher 140
Tchagras & bulbul - Brown-crowned & Black-crowned Tchagras, Common Bulbul 142
Thrushes, scrub robin & babbler - Spotted Morning & Olive Thrushes,
White-browed Scrub Robin & Arrow-marked Babbler 144
Attractive flycatchers of woods & gardens - White-eyed Slaty & African Paradise Flycatcher 146
Little brown jobs or 'LBJs' - Rattling Cisticola, Red-faced Crombec & Tawny-flanked Prinia 148
Green warblers - Yellow-breasted Apalis, Grey-backed Camaroptera & Grey-capped Warbler 150
Sunbirds: 1 - Scarlet-chested, Collared & Variable Sunbirds 152
Sunbirds: 2 - Marico, Beautiful & Bronze Sunbirds 154
Colourful birds of bush & garden - White-browed Robin Chat & Rüppell's & Greater Blue-eared Starlings 156
Brightly coloured starlings - Superb, Hildebrandt's & Violet-backed Starlings 158
Yellow weavers - Spectacled, Baglafecht & Village Weavers 160
Waxbills - Purple Grenadier, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu & Bronze Mannikin 162
Striking small birds of open bush - Pin-tailed Whydah, Golden-breasted Bunting & Yellow-fronted Canary 164

BIRDS OF ACACIA SCRUB
Acacia barbets & go-away-bird - Red-and-yellow & Red-fronted Barbets & White-bellied Go-away-bird 166
Medium-sized birds of acacia scrub - Blue-naped Mousebird, Abyssinian Scimitarbill & Von der Decken's Hornbill 168
Shrikes - Brubru, Taita Fiscal & Magpie Shrike 170
Small birds of acacia scrub - Silverbird, African Grey Flycatcher, White-bellied Canary & Foxy Lark 172
Acacia weavers: 1 - Grey-capped Social, Speckle-fronted & Vitelline Masked Weavers 174
Acacia weavers: 2 - Red-billed Buffalo, White-headed Buffalo & Rufous-tailed Weavers 176

VILLAGE BIRDS
Village sparrows - Swahili, Kenya Rufous & House Sparrows 178
Common village birds - Red-billed Firefinch, Village Indigobird & Pied Crow 180

FOREST & CRATER HIGHLandS BIRDS
Large forest birds - White-necked Raven, Schalow's Turaco & Crowned Hornbill 182
Small birds of forest edge & open areas - Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Streaky Seedeater & African Stonechat 184

BIRDS OF THE AIR
Black swallows & dark martins - Black & White-headed Saw-wings & Plain & Banded Martins 186
Swallows with red rumps - Mosque, Red-rumped, Rufous-chested & Lesser Striped Swallows 188
Swallows with dark rumps - Wire-tailed, Angola & Barn Swallows 190
Swifts - Little, White-rumped, African Palm, Nyanza & Common Swifts 192
Bee-eaters - Eurasian, Blue-cheeked & White-throated Bee-eaters 194

NIGHT BIRDS
Owls - Pearl-spotted Owlet, Verreaux's Eagle Owl & African Scops Owlbr 196
Barn Owl & nightjars - Barn Owl & Square-tailed / Gabon & Slender-tailed Nightjars 198

LAKE VICTORIA SPECIALS
Birds of the lakeside - Blue-headed Coucal, Swamp Flycatcher & Black-headed Gonolek 200
Sunbird & weavers - Red-chested Sunbird & Grosbeak & Slender-billed Weavers 202
Lakeside weavers - Northern Brown-throated, Golden-backed & Yellow-backed Weavers 204
Terns & gull - Whiskered & White-winged Black Terns & Grey-headed Gull 206
Cormorants & small plovers - Reed & Great Cormorants & White-fronted & Common Ringed Plovers 208

Further reading & useful resources210
Acknowledgements 211
Photographic credits 212
Scientific names of the bird species included in this book 213
Index 217
Short Index inside back cover