Sunday, February 3, 2019

Bulletin 335 - South Africa #12 - Part 2 - Swallows, Wagtails, Sparrows, Bunting

Continued from Part 1

Longclaws are colorful pipits. The 8" Yellow-throated Longclaw (Macronyx croceus) is similar to our meadowlarks in the USA


Yellow-throated Longclaw
The 8" Cape Longclaw (Macronyx capensis) is similar but the throat is orange.


Cape Longclaw
The 8" African Pied Wagtail (Motacilla aguimp) is of course a black and white bird.


African Pied Wagtail
The 8"  Cape Wagtail (Motacilla capensis) is gray and white without the wide white wing bar.


Cape Wagtail
The 6" Cape Sparrow (Passer melanurus) is a black-headed sparrow.


Cape Sparrow
The 6" Southern Gray-headed Sparrow (Passer diffusus) is a pale gray sparrrow with brown wings.


Southern Gray-headed Sparrow
The last sparrow is the 6" Yellow-throated Petronia (Gymnoris superciliaris) is a gray brown sparrow IDed by the wide white strip above the eye. The tiny yellow throat spot is seldom seen according to the book. I hate it when a bird is named for an invisible mark.


Yellow-throated Petronia
I only saw 1 bunting, but he was a beauty. The 6" Golden-breasted Bunting (Emberiza flaviventris). He has a distinctive black and white head with the bright gold breast.


Golden-breasted Bunting


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

I have photos of 23 of the 88 
species of  swallows

I have photos of 12 of the 65 species of wagtails and pipits

I have photos of 6 of the 47 species of Old World sparrows

I have photos of 9 of the 44 species of buntings

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2019 David McDonald

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