Bulletin 371 - Uganda #15 - Hornbills and 3 monkeys

After the week in the Capetown area, the guide Casper Badenhorst, and I flew to Uganda and met a local guide. We started at Entebbe Airport on the southeast corner of Uganda and made a diagonal trip to Murchison Falls NP in the northwest corner. From there, we proceeded south through a chain of nature preserves and parks to the southwest corner at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. We finished along the southern border back to the airport.

There are 2 species of ground hornbills. I saw the Southern Ground Hornbill in Kruger Park on my first Africa trip. Here is the other - the 36" Abyssinian Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus). It is a large black hornbill found walking along the ground searching for insects, snakes, lizards etc. It is an easy ID and the huge size cannot be confused with any other bird. This is a male with the blue around the eye and red throat patch

Abyssinian Ground Hornbill - male

The female has a blue throat patch.

Abyssinian Ground Hornbill - female

There are 59 species of hornbills with 27 in Africa and the rest in Asia. The 29" Black-and-white Casqued Hornbill (Bycanistes subcylindricus) has a huge bill with a casque protuberance on top. It has a black body, white belly and tail, and primaries on wings.

Black-and-white Casqued Hornbill

Very similar is the 28" White-thighed Hornbill (Bycanistes cylindricus). The only obvious difference is the white ring around the eye and the tail has a black stripe across the middle.

White-thighed Hornbill

The 22" Crowned Hornbill (Tockus alboterminatus) is a black hornbill with a bright red bill and bushy crest.

Crowned Hornbill

The 28" White-crested Hornbill (Tropicranus albocristatus) is a black hornbill with a very long graduated tail and a bushy white crest like a Mohawk haircut. It was a treat to find this bird as there are only 2 or 3 pairs in Uganda in the Semliki Forest along the Congo border.

White-crested Hornbill

We saw several species on monkeys in Uganda. The first is the well named Red-tailed Monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius). It is 40 - 60" in length with the tail being 60%. It is IDed by the red tail, white cheeks and nose. This monkey is in the same forest with the White-crested Hornbill above and the hornbill follows the monkeys as the monkeys shake the leaves and expose caterpillars which the hornbills eat.

Red-tailed Monkey

Next is L'Hoest's Monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti). It is about 45" long and 50% tail. It is a black monkey with a brown lower back and white around the neck.

L'Hoest's Monkey

The last is Patas Monkey (Erythrocebus patas). It is a large red haired monkey 60" in length and the tail is 50%. The males can weigh up to 40 pounds. The adults have a white face but the babies have a black face. They are mostly terrestrial.

Patas Monkey

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

I have photos of 2 of the 2 species of ground hornbills

I have photos of 8 of the 59 species of  hornbills

I have photos of 9 of the 135 species of  old world monkeys

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2020 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.

Bulletin 370 - Uganda #14 - Weavers - part 2, Buntings

After the week in the Capetown area, the guide Casper Badenhorst, and I flew to Uganda and met a local guide. We started at Entebbe Airport on the southeast corner of Uganda and made a diagonal trip to Murchison Falls NP in the northwest corner. From there, we proceeded south through a chain of nature preserves and parks to the southwest corner at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. We finished along the southern border back to the airport.

We saw some weavers in an earlier bulletin. Here are the rest of that family that I saw in Uganda.

The 7" Holub's Golden Weaver (Ploceus xanthops) is all yellow with a black bill. It reminds me of a female Summer Tanager.

Holub's Golden Weaver

The 5.5" male Black-necked Weaver (Ploceus nigricollis) is almost orange with a black back and throat. It sure resembles some of our orioles.

Black-necked Weaver - male

The 5" male Brown-capped Weaver (Ploceus insignis) is a bright yellow bodied weaver with black face, wings and tail and a brown crown.

Brown-capped Weaver - male

The 5.5" Northern Brown-throated Weaver (Ploceus castanops) is yellow with some dark streaks on wings and a brown face. He has a white eye. This one is in the papyrus reeds as you probably remember from previous photos.

Northern Brown-throated Weaver - male

A small group of red and black forest weavers are called malimbes. The only one I saw was the 6.5"  Crested Malimbe (Malimbus malimbicus). It is a black bird with a red throat, face and small crest.

Crested Malimbe

Widowbirds are in the same family as weavers. The males have long tails in breeding plumage. The 6" male Fan-tailed Widowbird (Euplectes axillaris) is all black with a red shoulder patch. It resembles our Red-winger Blackbird.

Fan-tailed Widowbird - male

The old world buntings were previously in the same family with the new world sparrows, but were separated in 2013. I added 2 buntings to my list in Uganda.

The 6" Cabanis's Bunting (Emberiza cabanisi) has a black and white striped head and a bright yellow belly.

Cabanis's Bunting

The 6" male Cinnamon-breasted Bunting (Emberiza tahapisi) has a similar black and white striped head but a rufous chest and belly.

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting - male

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

I have photos of 27 of the 117 species of weavers.

I have photos of 12 of the 44 species of  buntings

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2020 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.