Birds from the Horn of Africa...

A few more bird pix from Ethiopia. I loved the kingfishers, but there again kingfishers are brilliant everywhere one goes. This little sprite is the African Pygmy Kingfisher. It is pretty widespread but very nice nonetheless. I had to stalk this one a bit in order to obtain some photos, but the time invested was well worth it - foil-wrapped eye candy!


There are few woodpeckers in Ethiopia - less than ten I think - and this is certainly the nicest and most range restricted. It is a male Abyssinian Woodpecker. We did well for this small 'pecker and recorded it at a few highland sites. This one was photographed in the Jemma Valley north of Addis.


There can be few families that sum up the uniqueness of avifauna of the African continent better than the turacos. It was a treat for me to see five members of this endemic family on this trip. This gem is a White-cheeked Turaco. They are medium-large birds that live in a variety of savannah and forest habitats, often in groups.


Rollers are amazing birds. This is an Abyssinian Roller, easily told by its long tail streamers. Many other rollers exhibit the wonderful sky blue and chestnut colors worn by this species, but none have such long streamers. This wonderful bird was pretty common in acacia woodland in the Rift Valley.


The ubiquitous Hoopoe! A fantastic-looking creature what with its banded plumage and expanding head. I well remember my very first Hoopoe flying along the cliffs at Foreness in Kent, UK way back in 1977. I was totally flabbergasted! But one gets over such things...


We did well for pigeons and doves in Ethiopia. One of the more colorful members of this tribe was the lovely Bruce's Green Pigeon. Not particularly common so I was lucky to get close enough to this obliging individual. Beautiful plumage innit...


Cuckoos were a real bust though and when I get around to writing the trip report there will be a glaring gap where the cuckoos should have been. I think it was a bad time for them since they were obviously not singing whilst we were there. In the last week or so I had a bit of a push with trying to lure a few in with playback. We had one response - from this lovely Klaas's Cuckoo - and that was about it! Next time maybe? Luckily most are pretty widespread.


The Somali Golden-breasted Bunting is really quite common in the southern half of Ethiopia where it likes to live in acacia savannah and scrub. It is easily pished in and is often one of the most conspicuous birds due to its confiding nature and flashy plumage.


And lastly a really flashy Northern Carmine Bee-eater! A large and dashing species it can be pretty common on occasion. I was happy to see this one because if you ever see a TV show about Africa this species is ALWAYS present!! More to follow...