Today I’m still in transit, flying home from southern Africa on a trip begun yesterday morning that will take more than 33.5 hours from airplane wheels up in Zambia to wheels down in Pittsburgh.
Even before my trip, I knew I would not see this bird’s extraordinary courtship display as he breeds from September through December, while I did not visit Africa until late January.
The pennant-winged nightjar (Caprimulgus vexillarius) resembles my Spark Bird, the common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor), but he is far more spectacular. For courtship purposes the male grows two very long feathers, one from each wing, which flow out like streamers when he flies.
This species takes its name from the extraordinarily long, and largely white, second to outermost primaries in breeding males, which are shown to great advantage in courtship display, being vibrated over a responsive female.
Last September the 10 year old camera died after limping for years with a broken microphone and infrared light. It took us a while to notice (no one was watching) so the timing was fortunate. We had three months to get advice on cameras, choose a model, install it and learn how to use it before streaming began.
Long time peregrine fan Kim Getz coordinated the project for Pitt I.T. and it all came together on installation day. Lighthouse Electric removed the old equipment, ran wires, and installed the new microphone and camera. Kim volunteered to clean the nestbox and re-secure the green perches with zip ties. She gives a thumbs up to the snapshot camera when she’s done. Thankfully the peregrines did not harass the crew.
The new camera is quite an improvement over the old one with sharper focus, better reach, and of course audio and infrared night light. The nest view is narrower because it’s a tight space and this camera is about 2 inches closer due to the length of the wall mount arm. (All the new cameras have longer arms nowadays.)
Though we cannot change the camera view when the adult peregrines are present — it spooks them! — the presets in the slideshow below will come in handy when the young explore the gully, the nestrail, and the nestbox roof. The slides begin with Ecco preening on the green perch. Kim ran the camera through its paces when no peregrines were around.
What can we expect on camera this season? Last year was a disappointment with no peregrine eggs and chicks because the female, Morela, became egg bound and died in mid May. Two days after Morela disappeared a banded female peregrine, Carla (Black/Blue S/07, Fort Wayne, IN, 2020), arrived on site and has been there ever since. Late May was too late to nest in 2023 so this year will be Carla’s first nesting season.
Carla and Ecco have been courting and bowing since they met last year and are intensifying their attachment this winter. They bowed and touched beaks last month in these snapshots taken before streaming began. When you watch them in full screen you’ll see tiny bones on the gravel and be able to read Carla’s bands.
Thank You to everyone who helped make this project a success, especially …
The National Aviary and their Ornithologist Bob Mulvihill, whose commitment to broadcasting the Pitt peregrines’ nest has provided us with a new camera.
Pitt I.T. who assigned Kim Getz to manage the project and provided additional tech assistance. Kim’s knowledge, dedication, and connections within the University made everything flow smoothly.
p.s. For those of you following my southern Africa trip, today is the day I leave Africa on a 33.5 hour journey home (flights + layovers). I am spending most of my time in the upper troposphere.
Africa has no hummingbirds (Trochilidae) but they have a family of nectar-feeding birds with many of the same characteristics: Sunbirds (Nectariniidae). Though the two families are unrelated they’re an example of convergent evolution, equipped with the same tools and habits.
The similarities between hummingbirds and sunbirds are striking. Both have:
Brilliantly colored males, often iridescent
Sexually dimorphic females
Long curved bills for collecting nectar
Short wings and fast, direct flight
Feed primarily on nectar
Feed insects and spiders to their young
Are important flower pollinators
Prefer red or orange flowers that are long and tubular,
Can enter torpor when it’s cold.
Their differences are also interesting:
Hummingbirds vs. Sunbirds
Hummingbirds
Sunbirds
New World only
Old World: Africa, Asia, Australasia
Range in size from 1.59 g to 20 grams
Range in size from 5 g to 45 grams
Hover and have tiny feet
Perch with normal feet
Don't hang out with family
Usually found in pairs; sometimes in family or larger groups
Some make long migrations
Sedentary or short-distance migrations
Hummingbird beaks can't pierce flowers. That's the job of flowerpiercers.
Sunbirds pierce flowers if the nectar is too hard to reach.
The scarlet-chested is very iridescent and, amazingly, is considered a pest in cocoa plantations because it spreads parasitic mistletoes according to Wikipedia.
Bee-eaters and rollers are both members of the Order Coraciiformes that includes kingfishers, motmots, and todies. All of them have colorful plumage, large heads, short necks, short legs, and usually syndactyly toes. In other words, two of their three pointing-forward toes (toes #3 and #4) are fused at the base.
Here’s what syndactyly looks like on a European bee-eater and a lilac-breasted roller.
The lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus) is every photographer’s dream. He’s as big as a blue jay, very colorful, and willing to perch prominently for a long time.
One of the visual treats for birders in southern Africa is a genus of iridescent birds known as glossy starlings (Lamprotornis). They make up only 18% of the starling family (Sturnidae) yet out-dazzle all the others from the mynas of Asia to the invasive common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) in North America.
The slideshow above shows eight species I expect to see in southern Africa, two slides per species in no special order. Five are glossy starlings (Lamprotornis genus) including the African pied starling which isn’t glossy. One is a monotypic genus that is glossy violet like a hummingbird. The red winged starling is shiny black. The wattled starling male grows black wattles on his face for the breeding season. Here’s the list with links to the details.
In case you’re wondering why glossy starlings are so gorgeous, it’s because those with the best colors get the best mates. Read more about how quickly they evolve new colors in this vintage article:
In Africa there’s a fish eating eagle that has many characteristics in common our own bald eagle. It eats fish, builds a stick nest near water, has a white head and tail, and perches and calls in pairs.
Prior to 2018 it was in the same genus as North America’s bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) but DNA evidence moved the African fish eagle to Icthyophaga vocifer, the “fish-eater with loud voice.” It is closely related to the Madagascar fish eagle (I. vociferoides).
Nonetheless it behaves a lot like a bald eagle. This description of the African fish eagle could be written about the bald eagle, including the habit of stealing fish from ospreys.
… Red-knobbed Coot are important prey in addition to fish. Hunts mainly from a perch by swooping down to pluck prey from near the water surface, rowing larger prey to shore. Rarely hunts when soaring, but regularly pursues and pirates other piscivorous [fish-eating] birds. Perches for 85–95% of day in productive tropical habitat. Usually solitary, but more than 100 may gather at concentrations of stranded fish.
Amur falcons (Falco amurensis) breed in Siberia and northern China and travel 22,000 km (13,670 mi) each fall to southern Africa. Not only is their migration the longest of all the raptors but when they stopover in autumn to refuel in Nagaland, India their flock can number half a million birds. Right now they’re in southern Africa where I hope to see them.
Amur falcons are insectivores who, on migration, capture flying insects to eat in mid air.
Amur falcons are present from October to December near the Nagaland village of Pangti where they fatten up on termites before continuing their journey. There are hundreds of thousands of falcons in the air at once.
Their abundance led to near tragedy, however. Until the practice ended in 2012, Nagaland hunters caught tens of thousands of falcons per day in fishing nets hung from the trees. Each year they killed 250,000 Amur falcons to sell as meat for mere pennies. They thought the falcons would never disappear.
The killing ended abruptly when journalist Bano Haralu returned to her homeland, witnessed the destruction, and got a hunting ban placed in November 2012. More importantly, she and her colleagues taught the villagers, and especially the children, the importance of the falcons and a way forward through ecotourism. It was a stunning turnaround and a credit to the people of Nagaland.
Here are the largest number of birds I have EVER seen in my life! Estimated to be 500,000 Amur falcons migrating to Africa, stopping midway at Nagaland. Happy to see them after the work @wti_org_india did years ago to protect them with community & FD #Nagaland#IndiAvespic.twitter.com/3URyj8Ueq0
UPDATE on 29 January 2024: I was fortunate to see a female Amur falcon in Namibia today, swooping for insects near the Chobe River. (These photos are from Wikimedia.)
Though I can identify birds by song at home, it’s almost impossible to do in southern Africa among birds I’ve never heard before. To prepare for this trip I spent time learning about the birds I might see. Then I discovered their odd and distinctive sounds. Here’s a sample of some notable ones.
Babble: Arrow-marked babblers (Turdoides jardineii), pictured above, are gregarious birds that nest cooperatively and love to sing together. One or two birds may start the babbling song, then everyone joins in. Even after the cacaphony stops a few will mutter to each other. Babblers are members of the Laughingthrush family (Leiothrichidae). When I listen to them it makes me laugh.
Ring: The tropical boubou or bellshrike (Laniarius major) is a frequent singer with a bell-like voice. Contact calls like bou, hou, boubou or bobobobo give the bird its name but in song its vocal repertoire really shines. Boubous often duet in male-female pairs or two males in adjacent territories who call-and-respond so quickly that they sound like one bird. The songs are so amazing that I’ve included three examples.
Toot: The pearl-spotted owlet (Glaucidium perlatum) is the smallest owl in southern Africa, similar in size to our northern saw-whet owl. Though they aren’t in the same genus, the owlet’s call reminds me of a saw-whet’s toot except for this: The owlet toots louder and higher until he drops off at the end.
Shout: The hadada ibis (Bostrychia hagedash) is just plain loud. His name comes from his extremely loud and distinctive “haa-haa-haa-de-dah” call which he makes all year long, especially at dawn and dusk. Hadada ibises are now very common in suburbs where people hear them every day. Imagine one shouting from your roof.
The Kori bustard (Ardeotis kori) is a large ground bird native to Africa that forages by walking along, repeatedly poking it’s beak to the ground. The male of this species can weigh more than 44 pounds and is reputed to be the heaviest bird that’s able to fly.
I’ve wanted to see this bird since 2009 when I found out they tip the scales for flying birds. My best chance may be at Chobe National Park, Botswana in three days time (28 January).
Fingers crossed that I’ll see him while I’m here. He doesn’t even have to fly for me to be enthralled!
Find out why he’s at the top limit of flying birds in this vintage 2009 article.
Yesterday we went on a bird drive in Zambezi National Park. Today we drive to Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe for our first game drive. We’ll see many of the animals pictured above and listed below.
Lion
Elephant and zebra
Oryx (did not see this animal)
Greater kudu
Impala
Cape buffalo
During our tour the words Safari or Game Drive mean “Drive around and look for birds and animals.”
To give you an idea of what I’m experiencing I’ve included a promotional video from Road Scholar, created for one of their other African programs.
This is NOT the program that I’m attending. (The video is Program #3645, I’m on Program #21528.) However some of the locations and many of the experiences are the same.
