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unidentified African Birds (1 Viewer)

Jells96

Member
Hi, I've got some pictures of birds I haven't been able to identify yet. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

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I saw this bee-eater in Kenya, in the Masai Mara

Well, in that case, my ID should be wrong, because Somali Bee-eater isn't supposed to occur there.

But I can't make it fit with anything else. (I haven't seen it, but I've seen a lot of the others.)

It has a clear white throat, we can see a little of the front side above the tail, which appears to be cinnamon, and the tail is not long or forked.

As well as looking at the books, I had a look at some internet photos, and found some that looked like this bird,

https://www.flickr.com/photos/harrycolquhoun/36330468473

Well, I daresay Tom will have some better idea.
 
...the map in Birds in East Africa seems outdated, still a very interesting record

Yes, that HBW distribution also doesn't show Somali Bee-eater anywhere near the Mara.

But I think the weather in that part of the world, like many other places, has been a bit weird, so maybe some birds are appearing in places they previously wouldn't have.

Or maybe it's claimed political asylum due to the continuing troubles in its homeland?

In a thread a few months ago, Brian Small said that the new edition of Birds of East Africa should be out in early 2020. I'm looking forward to that.
 
I recall several records at a couple of locations in Kenya but it was over 40 years ago i wasn’t aware of supposed status etc - sometimes it is good to be blissfully unaware. I remember bumping into a group of 3 Scandinavian birders in Nairobi NP who were scoping one on the wires and noting it was an unexpected find...

Laurie:t:
 
I saw this bee-eater in Kenya, in the Masai Mara

Hi Jells.

If you look at the attached map of the distribution of Somali Bee-eater, you can see that it is well away from Masai Mara. So, if you found it there, this will be an interesting (rare) record.

I'm not doubting your word, but could you just check that you didn't accidentally put a photo from eastern Kenya in with some Mara photos?

By the way, you have posted some nice photos.
 

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What has to be borne in mind that documented distribution of breeding birds and extra-limital records in parts of the World such as East Africa reflect nothing like the coverage that Western and European birders are used to. Lots of records are actually found by visiting birders who as i have already alluded to do not travel with closed expectations.

The recent upsurge in trips and records to Southen Morocco is a case in point. After a trail-blazing trip from elements of the Punkbirders the locations around Dhakla Bay and Assouard are firmly in the cross hairs with extra-limitals, vagrants and breeders like Golden Nightjar are extending known ranges with almost every Cloudbirder report. I can’t help thinking that had the poster been a ‘name’ or a ‘face’ there would be no element of a doubt as to its identity, origin, or acceptance but there is a lot of this sort of thing about.

Just think of the current scenario on the Azores. In 1995 nobody had been to Corvo before Pete Alfrey’s pioneering trip. His report ‘Corvo - Eye of the Storm’ was both eye-popping and jaw-dropping with the lushness of the island, c/w with moody volvanic caldera, dripping with Rayban-inducing Yank wood-warblers sounded like a missing level off of Tombraider:eek!:

Cue now where you can’t get B n B for 10 years as it is block-booked by the chosen ones - no problems with ID and range extension there. My mate found breeding Killdeer on Tercirea. He too was mocked in Norfolk for records that nobody saw back in the day. Birds are where the birdwatchers are it’s as simple as that. My record along with the 3 other birders would not pass muster but we saw it and i saw a Basra RW with a leg-iron;)

Good birding -

Laurie:t:
 
My point Tom:t:

I have been to Maroc a dozen times in 8 years. Despite travelling from Tangier to Dhakla and out to Tata and beyond i still haven’t ‘cleaned up’ as i bird on public transport and pushbike and also love visiting the country to bird adjacent to where we stay which is normally in 3-night chunks. Despite trips based around specialities and migration periods what i really enjoy are the out-of-season jaunts in little-visited locations. During Nov and Dec visits i get to see the resident and wintering stuff and submit reports to Go-South. I reported a singing Rock Thrush at Essaoiura - the only November record for the species. A pair of birds feeding high in a date palm at Zagora increased the then range of Hawfinch South from the Atlas by about 200 miles:eek!: Who would have known had a birder not been present? I mean, the ‘Guide’ says they do not occur there;). I think at the time this was actually a Southerley World record but later eclipsed by birds on the Canaries during the recent displacement. I only spent 3 days at Dhakla but the potential for Western Sahara extralimitals and vagrants is almost palpable. I hope to return for a proper trip but the Bride will not entertain another 27 hour coach trip from Agadir:eek!:

Not even when i pointed out 3 Black-winged Kites, a flying party of silvery Desert Sparrows and thus far my only Double-spurred Francolin presumably a male calling from a grassy knoll as the coach stopped to add another piece of baggage to the hold.....a young Goat tied at at all four feet and bundled unceremoniously on top of our rucksacks - no pictures or field notes but i still have souvenier White hairs:-O

It has never been easier to travel and record what you see and by all means blink and rub your eyes but get that record! There will always be naybobs but big deal - like the 60’s they weren't’ there:t:

Laurie -
 
I can’t help thinking that had the poster been a ‘name’ or a ‘face’ there would be no element of a doubt as to its identity, origin, or acceptance but there is a lot of this sort of thing about.

Hi Laurie:

1. There are frequently people on BF who mix photos from different places on their trip by accident and only realise what they have done when an ID is questioned on location. I simply and politely asked Jells to check. If you look at his threads, they are very, very easy to ID birds (except possibly for this one) which suggests that he has never been to Africa before, and doesn't have a book, so he's using BF instead of a book. Therefore it isn't unreasonable to ask him to check that he's sure of the location of a bird he asked about.

2. The Masai Mara is hardly a spot which is unexplored, and therefore it doesn't seem unreasonable to wonder if a new birder finding a (previously unrecorded?) species in that location might have made a mistake when sorting the photos on return home.

3. If not, that's great.
 
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Hi Laurie:

1. There are frequently people on BF who mix photos from different places on their trip by accident and only realise what they have done when an ID is questioned on location. I simply and politely asked Jells to check.

3. If not, that's great.

Fully agree, the OP should first check location (easy with date of picture taken) and if Massai Mara the record should be send to http://naturekenya.org/about/bird-committee/
Anyway a nice record
 
The Masai Mara is/was full of tourists and access is only in a vehicle that’s why i never visited in nearly 4 months. The bulk of my birding was in rural and coastal areas apart from the Soda lakes. Times have changed. I thumbed around Kenya and wouldn’t do it now but it is still full of wannabee Safari types who wouldn’t know their @rse from a Somali Bee Eater or a beat up Somali;)

Look at the situation now with Black Rhinos in certain areas having their own personal armed guard/guide.....

I am glad i went then. I saw the ‘big 5’ all outside Parks and Reserves. I have to say i found out in the boonies ppl were very friendly and it was Jambo Central. I remember travelling on a rickety old bus and a young woman got on with a baby at her breast and one on her back. I did my bit for diplomatic relations and gave my seat up:t: Much to the laughter (i’m not joking) of all the males on the bus occupying seats:-O About five minutes later the seat next to her became vacant and i was about to make a move when she placed a covered box on it, rolled back the cover and started talking to some Chickens!

Sorry if off-topic but Jells photos are stirring sedimentary memories from a purple patch in my yoof;)

Did i mention turning up on the late Leslie Brown’s doorstep:eek!:
I wanted my field-guide to ‘Diurnal African Birds of Prey’ autographed and happened to be in the suburb of Karen (named after Karen Blixen) and found out where the doyen of Raptorphiles lived. The poor bugger was in and as soon as the door opened.....so was i! He duly added his moniker and i had my first decent cup of tea in Kenya. He gave me the location for some excellent local raptors and i was off.

Point taken about image posting when it applies...

Laurie -
 
Thank you all for your comments and suggestions, MacNara you were correct! I went back and looked at the date of the picture and we were actually in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy when that picture was taken. My apologies for setting everyone in the wrong direction. Does that help to identify this guy?
 
Thank you all for your comments and suggestions, MacNara you were correct! I went back and looked at the date of the picture and we were actually in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy when that picture was taken. My apologies for setting everyone in the wrong direction. Does that help to identify this guy?

that makes sense as this is in the normal occurence area for Somali Bee-eater
 
Thank you all for your comments and suggestions, MacNara you were correct! I went back and looked at the date of the picture and we were actually in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy when that picture was taken. My apologies for setting everyone in the wrong direction. Does that help to identify this guy?

As Tom says, then Somali Bee-eater. Great. Isn't the back colouring beautiful?

By the way, if it was your first trip, I hope you had as good a time as my wife and I did. We planned a 'once-in-a-lifetime' trip to Kenya in 2008, but it was so wonderful, we've now been to Africa ten times (Kenya three times). Poorer at the bank, but richer in the heart!

And apologies for consistently saying 'he' if you are in fact a 'she'.

And once again - lovely photos. And please don't be shy about posting more questions, even if they are 'easy' birds. And welcome to Bird Forum.
 
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