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Greater Kruger part 5, ZA (1 Viewer)

njlarsen

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Dear all,
another installment. The first 4 I think are the same species of Weavers and allies: they looked like they got spring feelings and were prospecting the tree to see if it would be good for nesting later in the season. Therefore, the third image contains nests from last season that were hanging in the same trees, and 4 has included some Cut-throat Finch for size comparison.

The fifth one, are both White-backed Vulture or is one a Cape Vulture (less contrast between underwing coverts and body, seemingly larger)?

thanks
Niels
 

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Niels:

My inexpert opinion: If you look at the crop I have taken from your photo, you will see that the head of these birds has a stripe down the middle. Therefore they should be Vidua spp as in another post, probably Pin-tailed Whydah. They're parasitic, so perhaps that's why there are no males around.

The two vultures look identical to me; the breast of the one on the left is a little less, and the one on the right is a little more in shadow is all. They're both White-backed in my opinion.
 

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Hi Niels, Mac,

The smaller birds are Vidua sp indeed, but I don't think they are Pin-tailed Whydah because they all show pinkish legs (black/dark in Pin-tailed) and they lack the typical buff tones of female Pin-tailed.
My take is that they are Dusky Indigobirds.

I too think both vultures are White-backed. White-backed have a tendency to whitten with age. Judging by the uniform underwing coverts and lack of body streaking, the bird is an adult. An adult Cape would show dark spots along the greater underwing coverts, have paler secondaries with a thin dark trailing edge and the axillaries would be typically paler than here.
 
Thank you both. Given that the Vidua's are nest parasites, the bird that made the nests I included a photo of would be something different. Is there any clue to which?

I guess the vulture I was just hoping ...

Niels
 
The nests are all badly damaged, but from the best-preserved one, it seems to be the type that has a ball (round or oval) at one side with a pipe entrance which hangs down longer on the ball on one side. With the use of pictures from Zimmerman et al, Birds of Kenya, and a look around the internet, it looks like the likely ones in the Kruger area are Spectacled Weaver and Lesser Masked Weaver. Village Weaver, Southern Masked Weaver and Cape Weaver all seem to use a shape without a long pipe.

I offer this simply in the spirit of getting the ball rolling. If a South African resident comes along, they should be able to tell us quickly.
 
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