Ngorongoro/Serengeti NP, Tanzania - Several unknowns (1 Viewer)

[HaydenB]

Hi,

This is my last selection of mystery birds from my recent trip:

1. From Serengeti NP, a blurry cisticola sp.:



2. Also from Serengeti; I don't expect much from this one but if anyone has any ideas:



3. This sunbird was at ~2300m at the eastern rim of the Ngorongoro crater. The only other species observed nearby was Golden-winged Sunbird:



4. Lastly, this weaver from further down into the crater.

View attachment IMG_8484.JPG

I'm sitting at 996 world birds right now, so maybe these last couple posts will do the trick.

Thanks everyone,
Hayden

 

[MacNara]

Maybe I have been posting too much in reply to you, Hayden. Other people on the forum with a lot of experience of African birds have not ventured opinions. I really hope that some others will chip in, especially about birds 3 and 4 in this post. Anyway, for what they are worth, here are my opinions on these four birds.


1. I can't get anything more out of this than Rattling. But maybe someone else can see more.

2. As posted there is almost nothing here. I have taken the liberty of englarging and lightening and this is the result. I didn't change the saturation, so the red is just what came out on lightening. Nonetheless it will take someone braver than me to guess at this. This has a black bill, so Red-headed Weaver is not possible, and I have no other ideas even assuming the red is 'real' and not an artefact, which is more likely.

3. This female or juvenile is interesting. The huge bill limits the possibilities. I suspect it's just Mariqua/Marico (females and juveniles of which in my limited experience and looking at online photos vary more (e.g. yellowish/whiteish) than the books can show. If it was Malachite, that would be a great catch (but a real shame not to have found the male).

4. This Weaver appears to have a red eye, which should mean Village or Vitteline Masked. I don't think it's Village (for various reasons), so by this logic it should be Vitteline Masked. However, the eye is orange-ish and younger birds often have darker eyes. I can't help thinking it's Lesser Masked both because of the overall yellow on the front (I think Vitelline should have more white, but I might be wrong) and the orange wash to the breast. I attach a photo of mine from Serengeti which to me looks like your bird - except for the eye colour.