Bulletin 330 - South Africa #7 - Part 2 - Ground Birds, Thick-knees, Turacos, antelope

Continued from part 1

The 13" Crested Francolin (Dendroperdix sephaena) is brown above, beige below with dark streaking, white throat and a white line above the eye.

Crested Francolin

The smallest is the cute 9" male Coqui Francolin (Peliperdix coqui). He has black and white striped body, brown wings and an ocher colored head.

Coqui Francolin - male

Thick-knees are a small family of long legged waders that are mostly terrestrial. The 17" Spotted Thick-knee (Burhinus capensis) is brown and white with a large yellow eye ring and yellow legs

Spotted Thick-knee

The 15.5" Water Thick-knee (Burhinus vermiculatus) is pale with a dark line across the wing and pale legs

Water Thick-knee

The turacos are an African family of large showy birds with long tails. The 20" Gray Go-away-bird (Corythaixoides concolor) is a large gray bird with bushy crest and long tail.

Gray Go-away-bird

The 16" Purple-crested Turaco (Turaco porphyreolopha) is a dark multicolored bird with  bright red flight feathers that are beautiful in flight.

Purple-crested Turaco

The last is the 18" Livingstone's Turaco (Turaco livingstonii). It is a green turaco with a large crest tipped in white.

Livingstone's Turaco

Last bulletin we saw the duikers. We will look at three more antelopes now. 2 names will probably be familiar, but the third was new to me. The 28 pound Steenbok (Raphicerus campestris) is a small antelope with white rings around his eyes and very large ears. Only males have short straight horns. This one is so cute.

Steenbok - male

The 100 pound Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) is fawn above and white below separated by a dark stripe. The face is white with a black lateral stripe. Springbok is the name of all the South African sports teams.

Springbok

Lastly is the 130 pound Impala (Aepyceros malampus). This was the most common antelope we saw. Only males have the lyre shaped horns. Impalas are hunted by lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs and hyenas.

Impala - male

I have put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 15 of the 182 species of  pheasants, grouse

I have photos of 3 of the 10 species of thick-knees

I have photos of 23 of the 147 species of cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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