Archive for November, 2011
The Bird of the Week – Week 97 – Emerald-spotted wood-dove
November 13th, 2011 | 
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Posted in  The preferred habitat of the Emerald-spotted wood-dove is, as its name implies, a variety of wooded areas, and they are particularly at home in acacia woodland and riparian forests. It can be quite a difficult bird to locate, although it is regarded as locally common and is heard fairly frequently within its range. In the southern African region it is found in the wetter north and east and is absent from the drier Namib and the Kalahari.
The Emerald-spotted wood-dove is fairly small and plump, with a length of about 20 cm. The males are slightly larger than the females. Its upper parts are pale grey-brown and its folded wings have the metallic green patches that give the bird its name. These emerald spots appear very dark if not seen in good light. They have bluish-grey foreheads and necks, the colour fading to grey on the throat and chest. The under-parts are pinky-mauve and the belly is white. The bill is black with a red base; legs and feet are purplish-red; eyes are dark brown.
The call of the Emerald-spotted wood-dove is a pair of long, soft “coos” followed by a series of “do’s” that increase in tempo and decrease in volume over the course of the cycle, “do do do dododo…“.
They are usually found singly or in pairs, but may form small flocks at water sources. They feed mainly on grass seeds, and thus feed mainly on the ground, but also eat termites and some fruit.
Emerald-spotted wood-doves are monogamous and build a flimsy stick nest high up, usually in a thorn tree. The female lays a clutch of two or three cream-coloured eggs that hatch after an incubation period of approximately 15 days. The young birds may fall prey to mongooses and shrikes.
The scientific binomial for the Emerald-spotted wood-dove is Turtur chalcospilos; Turtur from the Latin for a “turtle-dove”, and chalcospilos from the Greek for “copper spots”. Thus the name describes a turtle-dove with copper-coloured spots. As copper can adopt a green hue, this is a very apt description.
Camino de Santiago: Camino Frances: Part One
In October 2011 I completed a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella in Spain, following the ancient path called the Camino Frances. Â My journey took approximately 36 days with rest days along the way. Â I will attempt, through a few humorous blogs and photographs to convey the spirit and beauty of this incredible route, without dwelling on the spiritual aspect of the walk.
Part One is an introduction to the pilgrimage and what it is all about. Â It can also be found by clicking on the Trips tab above.
Tags: The Bird of the Week – Week 96 – Black-backed puffback
One of the more distinctive of the bird calls heard when visiting northern Namibia or the wetter parts of the southern African region is a two-syllable “chick-weeu, chick-weeu“, where the first syllable carries a distinct click, almost metallic. This call is uttered by the Black-backed puffback, usually be the male.
Black-backed puffbacks are fairly common within their range and are usually found singly or in pairs as they move through the evergreen forests or woodlands that make up their preferred habitat. They are fairly large shrikes, with a length of about 18 cm and although the sexes are similar in plumage, the males are a little larger than the females.
They have largely black upper parts, the females a little duller than the males, and white under parts. Eyes are red; bills, legs and feet are black. When displaying, the males erect the feathers on their backs to create the magnificent “powder-puff” that gives them their name. In Afrikaans this bird is called a “Sneeubal” or Snowdall, which is perhaps even more descriptive than “puffback”.
They feed mainly on insects, but also on fruit, and do most of their feeding in the upper canopy where they glean insects from leaves and branches.
The Black-backed puffback is monogamous and builds a tidy cup-shaped nest from roots, bark and other plant material that is bound together with spider webs. It is usually located in a forked branch, and may be camouflaged by having bits of lichen stuck onto it. The female lays a clutch of two or three creamy-white eggs that are heavily speckled with mauve, and that hatch after an incubation period of about 12 days.
The scientific binomial for the Black-backed puffback is Dryoscopus cubla; Dryoscopus from the Greek for “a watcher from the trees” and cubla which derives from a Hottentot word of obscure meaning, but the word is pronounced with an initial click that is said to imitate the bird’s distinctive call.
