Botswana 02: Various (1 Viewer)

M

MacNara

Well-known member

• Jan 18, 2018

• #1

What is the lark in photo 1?

Is the warbler (maybe) in photos 2 & 3 identifiable?

The white rump and shape should make photo 4 easy, but my brain draws a blank.

A few years ago, at the same season, we were on the Kwando River on the Namibia side. We saw a flock of starling that our (bird specialist guide) said were Sharp-tailed Starlings. I took photos but they were far away and the light was fading, so the photos just show silhouettes. Is the bird on the right from this trip to Botwana in photo 5 a Sharp-tailed? The location is good, the tail is wedge-shaped and the underwing looks pale, not black, as Sasol says. I did an internet image search, but I could find no photos of this bird in flight, and the few of it sitting included some obvious mid-IDs (eg Green Wood-hoopoe). I can't decide if the starling on the branch is Cape Glossy or the same as the bird in flight.

Thanks

 

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M

MacNara

Well-known member

• Jan 18, 2018

• #2

The bird in photo 5 should be easy, but I can't come up with anything. Could it be Pale (Mousecoloured) Flycatcher?

Is the bird in photos 6 and 7 identifiable? In photo 7 it seems to have white britches and reddish legs like a pipit, but I don't think it can be. Photo 6 shows the black eyeline and white supercilium.

And looking at Sasol, I think the bird in photo 9 has to be a Yellow-breasted Hyliota. But I saw the bird at Sterkfontein north of Johannesburg, which is a long way from the location shown in Sasol.

Thanks for your help.

 

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M

MacNara

Well-known member

• Jan 20, 2018

• #3

Sorry, I can't edit any more, so I'm making an extra post. The bird that I (still) think must be a Hyliota should be a Southern (Mashona) Hyliota, not Yellow-breasted. I was looking at the wrong plate in the book when I typed the name. Sasol still doesn't show this in South Africa, but Zimbabwe and Mozambique. I just hoped someone would confirm just in case I had missed a similar-looking bird.

 

Andy Adcock

Worst person on Birdforum

• Jan 20, 2018

• #4

Pic 4 look like Hartlaub's Babblers, usually near water.

Sharp-tailed Starling is a tough bird to see, this is probably Burchell's.

8 looks like Long-billed Crombec to me.

9 looks like Fiscal Flycatcher, there are no Hyliota's in Botswana.



A

 

Last edited: Jan 20, 2018

M

MacNara

Well-known member

• Jan 20, 2018

• #5

Thank you as always, Andy.

I was hopeful about the starling because it was in the right place. As I said, I couldn't find a picture of Sharp-tailed in flight. But the picture seemed a match for Sasol's description (wedge-shaped tail, underwings look pale, not just black. However, after your post, I searched for Burchell's again, and found this picture which is amost exactly like mine. So Burchell's.

Hartlaub's Babbler! I should have remembered. And the Crombec sounds fine.

And thanks for the Fiscal Flycatcher. I'm really glad I posted this. I have never seen either bird, and when I was looking through Sasol, starting from the back, I came on the Hyliota. The bird in my picture has the same kink in the neck colouring which Sasol marks as an ID point, and has a yellowish throat. It was only because it was so out of range that I posted. If only I'd looked two pages further in Sasol!

Are you OK with the Pale Flycatcher ID?

The warbler if it is - red legs, so would have to be Whitethroat, but might be something else entirely - and the lark I didn't really expect to identify, so if Pale Flycatcher is OK, then my identification for this trip is done.

Thanks once more.

 

Andy Adcock

Worst person on Birdforum

• Jan 20, 2018

• #6

1 Could be Red-capped Lark, doubt that 2-3 are do'able

Not sure about the Flycatcher, why is it greenish on one side and grey on the other?

If you ever go back, buy this, much better for ranges.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birds-Botswana-Princeton-Field-Guides/dp/0691157170


A

 

Last edited: Jan 20, 2018

M

MacNara

Well-known member

• Jan 20, 2018

• #7

Flycatcher? Here's the other view I got.

 

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Andy Adcock

Worst person on Birdforum

• Jan 20, 2018

• #8

Doesn't look like any of the grey flycatchers which should have white lores and / or eye rings?

Wondering about Marico but even that should have whiteish eye ring?



A

 

M

MacNara

Well-known member

• Jan 20, 2018

• #9

Well, obviously I wasn't sure, which is why I posted.

I think you can see an eye ring in my original post, and white from the bill to the eyering above the black loral line. And the other black descending line below the loral line from the end of the bill to the cheek looks right; it's shown in the book.

I thought it looked like these online photos of Pale Flycatcher:

One

Two

 

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Andy Adcock

Worst person on Birdforum

• Jan 20, 2018

• #10

You could be right


A

 

M

MacNara

Well-known member

• Jan 21, 2018

• #11

I think I'll go for Pale. I'm really sure it wasn't Marico. And I can't think of anything else. And if you can't either, then that's good enough for me.

I dumped the 'warbler'.

The reason for wanting to ID the lark wasn't so much the lark itself, as the fact that it appeared in a scene that appealed to me on a branch with (I think) a Burchell's Starling (attached). Anyway, I've abandoned the ID and just kept the photo as a scene.

Thanks very much for all your help. Botswana IDs all done!

 

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Andy Adcock

Worst person on Birdforum

• Jan 21, 2018

• #12

MacNara said:

I think I'll go for Pale. I'm really sure it wasn't Marico. And I can't think of anything else. And if you can't either, then that's good enough for me.

I dumped the 'warbler'.

The reason for wanting to ID the lark wasn't so much the lark itself, as the fact that it appeared in a scene that appealed to me on a branch with (I think) a Burchell's Starling (attached). Anyway, I've abandoned the ID and just kept the photo as a scene.

Thanks very much for all your help. Botswana IDs all done!

Click to expand...

I suggested Red-capped, didn't you see that?



A

 

M

MacNara

Well-known member

• Jan 21, 2018

• #13

andyadcock said:

I suggested Red-capped, didn't you see that?

Click to expand...

Yes, I did see that Andy. But you said, 'could', so I thought you were simply trying to be helpful rather than making a solid ID. I have other photos of Red-capped from the trip.

Anyway, thanks to your help, I have just finished cataloguing all my photos with keywords and dates and so on.

I'm very grateful for your comments and IDs.