Bulletin 338 - South Africa #15 - Part 2 - Doves, Woodpeckers, Rollers, Bee-eaters, others

Continued from Part 1

The 10" female Bearded Woodpecker (Dendropicos namaquus)  has a striped black and white head and yellow tail. The male has a red nape. Interestingly, the juveniles of both sexes have more red then the adult male. I have never heard of this in a woodpecker species before.

Bearded Woodpecker - female

The 6" female Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) has a ladder back, black streaked breast and white face. The male would have a red patch on the nape of the neck.

Cardinal Woodpecker - female

The 7" male Olive Woodpecker (Dendropicos griseocephalus) has an olive green back, wings and tail, gray face and underparts and a red nape.

Olive Woodpecker

The rollers and bee-eaters are colorful birds closely related to kingfishers, but each in their own family. 

There are 27 bee-eater species and I saw 3 of them. The 10" European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) is a multi-colored bird that breeds in Europe and winters in Africa. I had seen it in southern France in the 1990s so it was nice to get a photo.

European Bee-eater

The 9.5 " White-fronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) is a spectacular bird with a white forehead and red and white throat. It is endemic to southern Africa.

White-fronted Bee-eater

Lastly is the 6.5" Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus)

Little Bee-eater

Rollers are an even smaller family with just 12 species and I also saw 3 of them on the trip. The 11.5" Broad-billed Roller (Eurystomus glaucurus) is cinnamon and purple with a bright yellow bill.

Broad-billed Roller

The 15" Purple Roller (Coracias naevius) is IDed by the purple breast streaked with white.

Purple Roller

The last is the amazing 12" Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus) has a turquoise crown and violet breast. The long tail streames add another 3" to his length. This is the most photographed bird in South Africa.

Lilac-breasted Roller

There are 3 zebra species and the one I saw was Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchelli). Notice that the black stripes do not go all the way under the belly. Also, on the rump, some stripes are brown.

Burchell's Zebra

Continued on Part 3