Top 10 African Birds! Do you agree?
I have been with Rainbow Tours since 26 June 2000 (coincidentally Madagascar’s Independence Day) and have been a keen birder ever since I can remember. Often, birds are my “window” into a new country, and I then study other aspects afterwards. These ten birds are not necessarily the rarest or the most beautiful, but certainly memorable when visitors make that ‘eye-to-brain’ connection with them, even non-birders and especially, for beginner birders.
Shoebill - Uganda
Dinosaur like; even non birders want to see this prehistoric-looking creature. Nationally rare in Uganda but reliably seen there; also present in Akagera (Rwanda) and in west Tanzania. Nothing can prepare you for making that eye-to-brain connection with one of these monsters of the swamps, where they use their massive beaks to pull lungfish out of mud.
Shoebill
Pink pigeon – Mauritius
Saved from the very brink of extinction by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, (and yes it really IS pink), this beautiful pigeon survived extinction centuries earlier probably due to unpalatable flesh, which is believed to be largely thanks to a berry with narcotic properties – upon gorging themselves on these berries, the said pigeons were reported to flop down onto the ground and lie there in a daze for a while…
Pink pigeon - Photo by Rhett Butler
Pink pigeon - Photo by Rhett Butler
Blue Crane – South Africa & Namibia
South Africa’s iconic national bird, a beautiful, graceful creature; unmistakable with a very catholic diet; also found in Namibia. Inhabits open grasslands. Endangered.
Blue crane
Pittalike ground-roller – Madagascar
Widely regarded as the most beautiful of Madagascar‘s endemic birds, the ground-rollers are an endemic family of shy, forest-dwelling beauties. This one, as its name implies, is strikingly lovely and like its congeners, is best sought during spring and summer when they call.
Pittalike ground-roller - photo by Olivier Langrand
Knysna Turacou – South Africa
Exquisite crested, long-tailed green bird with striking crimson wing panels which show in flight; all the true Turacous contain a unique pigment (turacoverdin, related to copper) which gives the blood-red colour to their flight feathers. Eats fruit; denizen of evergreen forests from the Garden route/ eastern Cape north to KZN.
Knysna turacou - photo by Schristia
Black Paradise Flycatcher – Seychelles
The avian gem of the Seychelles, this beauty is confined to the idyllic island of La Digue where much effort has been made to save the remaining population; critically endangered but commonly seen in the ‘Veuve reserve’, an unofficially protected site in this island’s dense woods.
Seychelles black paradise flycatcher
Lilac-Breasted Roller – Kenya, Botswana
Iconic African savannah bird, almost a ‘junk bird’ in Botswana it is so common there – but beautiful and symbolic of the African bush.
Lilac-breasted roller
Kori Bustard - Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia
The world’s heaviest flying bird, this massive and increasingly rare terrestrial bird is found in much of sub-Saharan Africa – good places to seek it range from Kruger Park to Serengeti.
‘My partner pointed this bird out to me and said it was a Bustard – I told him to mind his language!!!!’, reads one description of the bird, explaining then that ‘bustard’ comes from the French ‘bistarde’ meaning ‘slow bird’. Males can weigh 20kg. And they are anything but slow…
Kori bustard
Kori bustard
Bateleur – Uganda, Rwanda, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa
Bateleur means acrobat in French, a reference to this short-tailed eagle’s remarkable aerial antics and displays. Almost abundant in Botswana, Zambia, parts of Zimbabwe, South Africa and eastern Africa. Also one of the most attractive of raptors.
Bateleur
Palm-nut Vulture - Uganda, KwaZulu Natal South Africa, Mozambique
Unique among raptors in being a vegetarian vulture which has evolved to live on an extremely specialised diet of oil palm kernels. Common on the Victoria Nile in Uganda, ranges down to KZN – look for it at and near St Lucia.
Palm-nut vulture
Do any of these birds make your Top 10? Have we left any out?
Category: Wildlife
Lovely selection Derek…10 species really isn’t enough there’s so many good ones in Africa, but if I could add some more, it’d be every single one of the ground-rollers, plus Green-breasted Pitta and Grey-headed Picathartes.
Thanks Richard! Love the ground-rollers too – and if I had more space I’d have added the Asitys and Sunbird-asitys too (for Madagascar those are my personal favorites) and many others from the African mainland…I didn’t include a Pitta because there are so many other, more spectacular Pittas in Asia….
Not sure whose criteria here?
Dear G – with the vast number of birds Africa has, making a choice of ‘top ten’ is incredibly difficult…I chose species which are easy to see in the countries we work with, whether they are abundant or critically endangered, and although I have been a life long birder, this is very much aimed at enthusiastic beginner birders….
Such a great continent, so many great birds… I’d love to see a shoebill one day.
My own list would include Carmine bee-eater, which I saw hunting amid the flames of a bush fire in Gambia, Lesser flamingo, and the male Long-tailed widowbird.
Absolutely! Shoebills are definitely top of the list for Africa – they are like something prehistoric – nothing can prepare you for that eye to brain connection with one of them…and having seen them in the wild was a real privilege.
Great list! I think a lot of the above mentioned birds would make it into my top ten too. Wonderful pictures too. They really highlight the beauty of these bird species.
African Fish Eagle
Martial Eagle
Agreed – one of the first of the African ‘icons’ which comes to mind is the African fish eagle but I left it out as it has congeners around the world which are either fairly similar in habits or equally vociferous…
Martial eagles are absolutely magnificent – will never forget the last time I saw one (Uganda) – but I left it out because there are other massive eagles elsewhere such as Harpy Eagle (S. America) and Philippines / monkey-eating eagle….
In my mind you have left out two of the best birds in Africa.. The Ostrich from Samburu.. (they are different!) and the Fish Eagle..
The African Fish Eagle’s a MUST Derek. I also think Pells and Scops Owls deserve a punt and I agree with Rob that the Ostrich should be in the frame. Why don’t you expand the list to make it the “Top 20″?
Thanks for the feedback Phoebe – I agree about the African fish eagle and Pel’s fishing owl, which was on the original list, because the call of the fish eagle is a ‘hallmark’ sound of Africa and the fishing owl is like the ‘Garfield’ of the bird world – seeing them is unforgettable. I should have made it a top 20 – Africa is so packed with incredible birds… I omitted the fish eagle because it has fairly similar (and vociferous) relatives in other parts of the world, and the fishing owl are also a number of species of fishing owl, including more in equatorial Africa. But they are both iconic, as is the Ostrich – which was also on my original list….narrowing a list down to 10 species is really subjective and difficult – there are loads more I would have wanted to include….
Fabulous post and great photos of the birds you selected. Would absolutely love to see a Shoebill. I do also adore the African Fish Eagle – purely for its amazing cry (always reminds me of Africa)
What? No Rattling Cisticola?
Nope, if I included a Cisticola in that list it would have been one of those which perform the incredible aerial displays (Cloud cisticola, etc) – I spent many hours watching them in grassland in South Africa….
The birds are beautiful and there are some that I’ve seen… Perhaps the need to also know the birds unique in the country, lots of surprising but less reported, it was great!
Please try to get there! Bird of Paradise – Cenderawasih, Humm…
Great post and fantastic photos!
What beautiful photo’s Derek. I think you have done a wonderful job here, very well done