About this book 9 The habitats 12 Plains 13 Marsh & water 14 Woodland, scrub & garden 15 Acacia scrub 16 Village 17 Forest 18 Up in the air 19 Nightbirds 20 Lake Victoria specials 21 Map of the Serengeti & Ngorongoro Conservation Area - NCA 22 BIRDS OF THE PLAINS The Big Ones: 1 - Ostrich 24 The Big Ones: 2 - Secretarybird & Grey Crowned Crane 26 Bustards - Kori, Black-bellied & White-bellied Bustards 28 Small plover & coursers - Double-banded & Temminck's Coursers & Kittlitz's Plover 30 Vanellus plovers - Crowned, Senegal & Black-winged Plovers 32 Sandgrouse - Black-faced, Yellow-throated & Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse 34 Storks & ground hornbill - White & Abdim's Storks & Southern Ground Hornbill 36 At the carcass - Marabou Stork & Ruppell's & White-backed Vultures 38 Vultures - White-headed, Hooded & Lappet-faced Vultures 40 Vultures in flight - all species for comparison 42 Black-and-white eagles & Egyptian Vulture - Martial & Black-chested Snake Eagles & Egyptian Vulture 44 Black-and-white eagles - Verreaux's Eagle, Augur Buzzard & Bateleur 46 Brown raptors - Black Kite & Tawny & Steppe Eagles 48 Raptors in flight - all species for comparison 50 Grey raptors - Pallid & Montagu's Harriers & African Harrier Hawk 52 Large falcon & grey kite - Lanner Falcon & Black-shouldered Kite 54 Small falcons - Grey, Common & Lesser Kestrels 56 Rollers - Lilac-breasted & Eurasian Rollers 58 Oxpeckers & starling - Red-billed & Yellow-billed Oxpeckers & Wattled Starling 60 Little brown jobs or 'LBJs' - Pectoral-patch & Zitting Cisticolas & Red-capped & Rufous-naped Larks 62 Sparrow lark & chats - Fischer's Sparrow Lark & Sooty & Anteater Chats 64 Wheatears - Capped, Northern & Pied Wheatears 66 Upright birds of the plains - Yellow-throated & Rosy-breasted Longclaws & Buffy & Grassland Pipits 68 Bishop & widowbirds - Yellow Bishop & Yellow-mantled & Jackson's Widowbirds 70 BIRDS OF MARSH & WATER Flamingos - Greater & Lesser Flamingos 72 Wetland storks - Woolly-necked, Yellow-billed & African Open-billed Storks 74 Stork & ibises - Saddle-billed Stork & Sacred & Hadada Ibises 76 Small herons - Hamerkop & Striated & Squacco Herons 78 Large, dark herons - Goliath, Grey & Black-headed Herons 80 Egrets - Cattle, Little & Great White Egrets 82 Fish eagle - African Fish Eagle 84 Smaller ducks - Red-billed Teal & White-faced Whistling & Fulvous Whistling Ducks 86 Larger wildfowl - Spur-winged & Egyptian Geese & Knob-billed Duck 88 Birds of the water's edge - Black-winged Stilt, African Jacana & Black Crake 90 Wetland plovers - African Wattled, Blacksmith & Spur-winged Plovers 92 Waders: 1 - Water Thick-knee & Ruff 94 Waders: 2 - Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper & Three-banded Plover 96 Waders: 3 - Wood, Common & Green Sandpipers 98 Kingfishers - Giant, Malachite & Pied Kingfishers 100 Wagtails & waxbill - Yellow & African Pied Wagtails & Common Waxbill 102 BIRDS OF WOODLand, SCRUB & GARDEN Open woodland raptors - Brown Snake & Long-crested Eagles & Steppe Buzzard 104 Bustard, thick-knee & courser - Buff-crested Bustard, Spotted Thick-knee & Heuglin's Courser 106 Spurfowl - Red-necked, Grey-breasted & Yellow-necked Spurfowl 108 Gamebirds - Helmeted Guineafowl & Coqui & Crested Francolins 110 'Collared' doves - Ring-necked, African Mourning & Red-eyed Doves 112 Distinctive pigeons & doves - Speckled & African Green Pigeons & Emerald-spotted Wood Dove 114 Doves & mousebird - Namaqua & Laughing Doves & Speckled Mousebird 116 Parrots & hornbill - Fischer's Lovebird, Meyer's Parrot & African Grey Hornbill 118 Large cuckoos & relatives - White-browed Coucal, Red-chested Cuckoo & Bare-faced Go-away-bird 120 Three green gems - Klaas's & Diederik Cuckoos & Little Bee-eater 122 Bush kingfishers - Striped, Woodland & Grey-headed Kingfishers 124 Hoopoes - Green Wood-hoopoe, Common Scimitarbill & Hoopoe 126 Barbets - Usambiro & Spot-flanked Barbets & Red-fronted Tinkerbird 128 Honeyguides & woodpecker - Greater & Lesser Honeyguides & Bearded Woodpecker 130 Woodpeckers - Green-backed, Nubian & Cardinal Woodpeckers 132 Large bushshrikes & oriole - Grey-headed Bushshrike, Tropical Boubou & Black-headed Oriole 134 Small black-and-white birds - Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Chin-spot Batis & Black-backed Puffback 136 White-fronted shrikes - Common & Grey-backed Fiscals & Northern White-crowned Shrike 138 Black birds of woodland edge - Common Drongo, Slate-coloured Boubou & Northern Black Flycatcher 140 Tchagras & bulbul - Brown-crowned & Black-crowned Tchagras, Common Bulbul 142 Thrushes, scrub robin & babbler - Spotted Morning & Olive Thrushes, White-browed Scrub Robin & Arrow-marked Babbler 144 Attractive flycatchers of woods & gardens - White-eyed Slaty & African Paradise Flycatcher 146 Little brown jobs or 'LBJs' - Rattling Cisticola, Red-faced Crombec & Tawny-flanked Prinia 148 Green warblers - Yellow-breasted Apalis, Grey-backed Camaroptera & Grey-capped Warbler 150 Sunbirds: 1 - Scarlet-chested, Collared & Variable Sunbirds 152 Sunbirds: 2 - Marico, Beautiful & Bronze Sunbirds 154 Colourful birds of bush & garden - White-browed Robin Chat & Ruppell's & Greater Blue-eared Starlings 156 Brightly coloured starlings - Superb, Hildebrandt's & Violet-backed Starlings 158 Yellow weavers - Spectacled, Baglafecht & Village Weavers 160 Waxbills - Purple Grenadier, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu & Bronze Mannikin 162 Striking small birds of open bush - Pin-tailed Whydah, Golden-breasted Bunting & Yellow-fronted Canary 164 BIRDS OF ACACIA SCRUB Acacia barbets & go-away-bird - Red-and-yellow & Red-fronted Barbets & White-bellied Go-away-bird 166 Medium-sized birds of acacia scrub - Blue-naped Mousebird, Abyssinian Scimitarbill & Von der Decken's Hornbill 168 Shrikes - Brubru, Taita Fiscal & Magpie Shrike 170 Small birds of acacia scrub - Silverbird, African Grey Flycatcher, White-bellied Canary & Foxy Lark 172 Acacia weavers: 1 - Grey-capped Social, Speckle-fronted & Vitelline Masked Weavers 174 Acacia weavers: 2 - Red-billed Buffalo, White-headed Buffalo & Rufous-tailed Weavers 176 VILLAGE BIRDS Village sparrows - Swahili, Kenya Rufous & House Sparrows 178 Common village birds - Red-billed Firefinch, Village Indigobird & Pied Crow 180 FOREST & CRATER HIGHLandS BIRDS Large forest birds - White-necked Raven, Schalow's Turaco & Crowned Hornbill 182 Small birds of forest edge & open areas - Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Streaky Seedeater & African Stonechat 184 BIRDS OF THE AIR Black swallows & dark martins - Black & White-headed Saw-wings & Plain & Banded Martins 186 Swallows with red rumps - Mosque, Red-rumped, Rufous-chested & Lesser Striped Swallows 188 Swallows with dark rumps - Wire-tailed, Angola & Barn Swallows 190 Swifts - Little, White-rumped, African Palm, Nyanza & Common Swifts 192 Bee-eaters - Eurasian, Blue-cheeked & White-throated Bee-eaters 194 NIGHT BIRDS Owls - Pearl-spotted Owlet, Verreaux's Eagle Owl & African Scops Owlbr 196 Barn Owl & nightjars - Barn Owl & Square-tailed / Gabon & Slender-tailed Nightjars 198 LAKE VICTORIA SPECIALS Birds of the lakeside - Blue-headed Coucal, Swamp Flycatcher & Black-headed Gonolek 200 Sunbird & weavers - Red-chested Sunbird & Grosbeak & Slender-billed Weavers 202 Lakeside weavers - Northern Brown-throated, Golden-backed & Yellow-backed Weavers 204 Terns & gull - Whiskered & White-winged Black Terns & Grey-headed Gull 206 Cormorants & small plovers - Reed & Great Cormorants & White-fronted & Common Ringed Plovers 208 Further reading & useful resources210 Acknowledgements 211 Photographic credits 212 Scientific names of the bird species included in this book 213 Index 217 Short Index inside back cover