Birds

I am dedicating this post to my brother-in-law, Coke. He really enjoys birds and Africa has some of the wildest, strangest, and amazing birds I have seen. I'll start with the big birds.

Take for instance the Secretarybird. (yes--this is really just one word) This is a huge (1.4 m tall--about 1/2 the size of an ostrich). It is a long-legged raptor that hunts walking, looking down for snakes, lizards, rodents and insects. It makes me think of a hawk with stork legs on steroids. It looks a bit intimidating and Alfred Hitchcock really should have used some in his classic movie.

My next example of strange is the Saddle-billed stork. This one  also stands about 1.5 meters tall. We spotted this guy (the female has yellow eyes) in a pond just outside of the northern gate of Etosa. 

The Kori Bustard is one of the heaviest flying birds. It can get up to 135 cm tall and looks quite awkward in flight. It stays mainly on the ground looking for small reptiles, bugs and seed to eat. 

The largest of all, of coarse, is the ostrich. We have seen many. They tend to stay together in larger flocks and when you see one, you are almost guaranteed to see others. We actually got to see several dancing, but had not figured out the video on our new camera, so sorry--no video

This brings me to out next big bird, the pelican. These pictures were taken in Walvis Bay when Kelda and I went on a morning catamaran cruise. The pelicans, while wild, are feed from the boats. You get really close up--maybe a little to close as one beat me in the head as it was flapping its wings.

We also saw lesser and greater flamingoes in Walvis Bay. The greater flamingo has a white body. Only its legs and beak turn pink from eating shrimp. The lesser flamingo is smaller and turns a deeper shade of pink all over. They winter here on the coast and migrate to Etosha and the interior to breed. They were just returning for the winter when we were there.

Greater flamingoes

Lesser flamingoes

This little guy is a lilac-breasted warbler. We saw many of these and they never failed to take my breath away with their beautiful colors. 

Blacksmith Lapwing

Great Egret

Black shouldered Kite

The Grey Go-Away bird gets its common name from the shrill warning 

it makes when a predator is detected. 

Ovambo Sparrowhawk

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

I would now like to add a disclaimer. If any birds are misidentified--well we did our best. We also finally saw some vultures, but the pictures were just too far away.