Bulletin 340 - South Africa #17 - Part 2 - Vultures, Cuckoos, Secretarybird, Mousebirds

Continued from Part 1

Coucals are heavy-set cuckoos that are not parasitic. The 16" Burchell's Coucal (Centropus burchellii) had a black head and tail, brown back and wings and white underside. The eye is red.

Burchell's Coucal

I photographed 3 swift species. They are all similar. The 5" Little Swift (Apus affinis) is brown with a white rump and throat. They occur in large flocks.

Little Swift

The 6" Horus Swift (Apus horus) is similar but is solitary.

Horus Swift

The 6.5" White-rumped Swift (Apus caffer) was the first swift I have ever seen perched. They use the nests of the Lesser Striped Swallows that we saw in an earlier bulletin. It is black with a white rump and white throat as well.

White-rumped Swift

Mousebirds are a small African family of just 6 species. The 13" Speckled Mousebird (Colius striatus) is a brown bird with a black face, white crest and long tail.

Speckled Mousebird

The 13.5" Red-faced Mousebird (Urocolius indicus) is a greyish mousebird with a red face. In the afternoon light it looks brown. It has the same long tail.

Red-faced Mousebird

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

I have photos of 60 of the 254 species of  hawks, old world vultures

I have photos of 18 of the 147 species of cuckoos

I have photos of 6 of the 106 species of swifts

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2019 David McDonald

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