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Northern Black Horhaan (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter leon
- Start date
cuckooroller
Registered User
One on left is Vanellus.
cuckooroller
Registered User
Leon,
It looks most like Vanellus tectus (Black-headed Lapwing) to me, but this in itself, is confusing as I don't have it ranging in RSA. I am talking about only the left hand pic here. The other is a Koorhan and there is a lot of confusion on the names once you get outside of Africa where the Robert's names are in vogue.
It looks most like Vanellus tectus (Black-headed Lapwing) to me, but this in itself, is confusing as I don't have it ranging in RSA. I am talking about only the left hand pic here. The other is a Koorhan and there is a lot of confusion on the names once you get outside of Africa where the Robert's names are in vogue.
cuckooroller said:
The birds have a strange behavour, the hover about 5 to 10 meters above ground calling loudly, before diving (mmm not like a kingfischer, a bit slower) to the ground. Could never get closer than about 30 meters from them. Very wild.
I have a few pictures, and I think it is the same or simular bird in both pictures.
cuckooroller
Registered User
Outside of RSA the Northern Black Koorhan is called the White-quilled Bustard (Eupodotis afraoides). Taxonomy and ranges to follow.
cuckooroller
Registered User
Eupodotis (Afrotis) afra - BLACK BUSTARD
monotypic - W and S Cape Province (grasslands)
Eupodotis (Afrotis) afraoides - WHITE-QUILLED BUSTARD
E.a.etoschae - NW Namibia, NE Botswana
E.a.damarensis - Namibia, W and C Botswana
E.a.afraoides - SE Botswana and N and NE Sth. Africa to Lesotho
monotypic - W and S Cape Province (grasslands)
Eupodotis (Afrotis) afraoides - WHITE-QUILLED BUSTARD
E.a.etoschae - NW Namibia, NE Botswana
E.a.damarensis - Namibia, W and C Botswana
E.a.afraoides - SE Botswana and N and NE Sth. Africa to Lesotho
Joern Lehmhus
Well-known member
Hi,
couldn´t the bird on the first photo be Spur-winged Plover, Hoplopterus spinosus?
Somehow it doesn´t fit a Vanellus in my opinion, the distribution of black and white on wings seems to fit better for H. spinosus.
couldn´t the bird on the first photo be Spur-winged Plover, Hoplopterus spinosus?
Somehow it doesn´t fit a Vanellus in my opinion, the distribution of black and white on wings seems to fit better for H. spinosus.
Joern Lehmhus said:
From the birds behavour I am pretty sure that this bird is the WHITE-QUILLED BUSTARD, locally we call it the Northern Black Korhaan. This a male busy
with a so called display flight. I have never seen a Spur-winged Plover here in South Africa. Thank you for your input though.
cuckooroller
Registered User
Joern Lehmhus said:
Hi Joern,
I considered it, but discarded the possibility because of the distribution of the white-black on the head and breast. The spinosus (and I'm not sure what taxon. you're following as I don't have it as differentiating enough to merit it's assignation to another genus - I have it in Vanellus on all three of the heavy world hitters, i.e. Clement's, SM, and Howard & Moore) has a black cap extending from the forehead to the hind nape and including the eye which has a black iris, and from a side view there is a white neck all the way down to the shoulder, in the pic, even though the darkness of the neck appears to be, in part, due to shadowing, I don't think it is all shadowing. Moreover, here the bill looks to be red with a black tip (spinosus bill is black), and the iris lighter (maybe yellow) which would also distance it from spinosus. I'm not sure what this is because tectus would seem to be out of range and then I would have a white underchin and a white forehead (not always shown this last) and then a slim black stripe that doesn't expand out into a pectoral band like on this one. All in all, this isn't tectus now that I've looked at it, but I don't know what it is.
Rasmus Boegh
BF member
Red bill+wing pattern of pic. 1 only fits one species that is likely in South African, that being Crowned Lapwing (V. coronatus). Spur-winged Plover has a dark bill and black on belly extents further down belly. Black-headed Lapwing has a similar bill, but black on chest only a line, nothing like the individual on the photo. Similarly, it is not exactly a species that would ne likely in South Africa (as far as I know, no records anywhere near down there).
Last edited:
cuckooroller
Registered User
leon said:
Leon,
If that first image on the left is a Bustard, then I'm going to hang myself. Rasmus, what do you think.
cuckooroller
Registered User
Rasmus,
I also consider that the most likely but I could not make out the white halo.
I also consider that the most likely but I could not make out the white halo.
Rasmus Boegh
BF member
I'd promiss you (and that surely isn't something I do often!) that it's a Lapwing. I'd go even further and say that I am 100% sure it's a Crowned Lapwing. Nothing else in Africa looks like the photo. The first photo is a bit of a cheater (but it shows perfectly in the first photo in the later thread), where the underparts appear black, probably due to light.
cuckooroller
Registered User
Comparison pics to follow
