Wilkinson's World

The bill of the Greater flamingo is a distinctive shape, curving downwards, and is pink with a black tip. In flight their long necks are stretched out in front and their long legs trail behind, once again rendering them very distinctive. Young birds lack the pink or red of their elders and are a rather dull grey and white.

Greater flamingoes have a very extensive range, being found in Africa, Asia and parts of southern Europe. Their preferred habitat is shallow coastal lagoons and mudflats, where they use their feet to stir up the mud. They suck water into their bills, using their tongues as a pump, and have filters to retain the shrimps, worms, algae and other tiny organisms on which they feed. They feed with their heads submerged and upside down and sweep their heads from side to side, presenting a very odd picture.

They are very sociable birds and, where feeding conditions are suitable, may be found in very large groups of up to hundreds or even thousands of birds. They often stand on one leg, with the other well tucked up against the body, but the reason for this is not clearly understood. They have a loud honking call, not unlike that of a goose, but may also call much more softly when they are feeding.

Greater flamingoes are monogamous and their nest is a simple mound of mud scraped together in shallow water. The females lay a single chalky-white egg that hatches after an incubation period of about 30 days.

The scientific binomial for the Greater flamingo is Phoenicopterus ruber; Phoenicopterus from the Greek for “bright red wings”; and ruber from the Latin for “red”. Thus a bird with bright red wings. With a bird as exotically shaped as a flamingo (used as a live croquet stick in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland”),  you would think they could have done better than that!

In fact there are loads of myths and legends around dragonflies, perhaps because of their light, mystical and magical qualities.  Stories and poems abound about them as well and they are even used in tales for eulogies and grief counselling.  They certainly seem to elicit an enormous amount of attention for such small insects.

On a happier note, we’ve been camping twice in January (aren’t we lucky!) and have been privileged to see many beautiful dragonflies around our campsites and at the dams.  They aren’t always easy to photograph so it’s especially rewarding when you manage to get a half decent shot of one.

They are worse than birds when it comes to staying still long enough to photograph them and this is because they have these enormous compound eyes with about 30 000 lenses that cover a 360 degree area.  They actually sense more than they see so if you approach them they fly off.  Sometimes you get lucky though!

I’m not even going to try and write about all the interesting facts and myths surrounding dragonflies as there is THE most amazing website covering absolutely everything you’d ever want to know about them – the Dragonfly Site.  Do pay it a visit and prepare to be enchanted learning all about these beautiful little creatures.

They are medium sized birds, with a length of about 24 cm and derive their name from the plumage on their head and breast, which is brownish-grey with white tips to the feathers that give the characteristic “arrow-marked” effect. The back and tail are a darker brown and the belly lighter. The bill, legs and feet are black and the eyes are two-toned, having a red outer rim and a yellow centre. The males and females are alike in both size and plumage.

Arrow-marked babblers are common throughout large parts of Africa, but within the southern African region they are largely limited to the north-east, their preferred habitat being semi arid woodland and moist shrublands.

They are quite social birds and are usually found in small groups of four to twelve birds. They forage low down in the undergrowth or on the ground and feed mainly on insects, spiders and small reptiles; also taking some fruit and seeds.

Arrow-marked babblers are monogamous and co-operative breeders, building an untidy cup-shaped nest of twigs and dry grass lined with finer material. This is usually placed in thick vegetation well above the ground. The female lays a clutch of three to five blue eggs that hatch after an incubation period of approximately 15 days. The nest may be parasitized by the Levaillant’s cuckoo (Clamator levaillantii).

The scientific binomial for the Arrow-marked babbler is Turdoides jardineii; Turdoides from the Latin for “like a thrush”; and jardineii after the naturalist Sir William Jardine. Not a very descriptive name without a mention of the distinctive plumage or the two-tone eyes!

Initially it takes a few days for the club to get noticed, but once the word spreads we are inundated with guests.  We often find them waiting even before we have opened our doors in the morning.  They get quite impatient too – if we are late delivering they set up a dawn chorus of chirps to remind us that they’re hungry.  It’s gratifying to see how popular our unofficial restaurant has become.

We get to know the little quirks and eccentricities of some of the regulars and that’s what makes a club like this so interesting.  It really broadens one’s knowledge of temperaments and dominant characters and personalities.  And when we move house we get to meet new and different friends and our next club is soon established and vibrant.

Here in Windhoek we have a wonderful pageant of birdies who visit us every morning.  Apart from the usual house sparrows and canaries, we get to see a number of very colourful birds.  And of course their plumage often changes with the seasons, so we also see them tranforming from their drab winter outfits and developing fine breeding feathers, then strutting their stuff in front of the ladies as they get more beautiful.

Because of the regular supply of seeds and bread, a number of southern masked weavers have built nests in the trees next to our fence.  We’ve been able to watch them rearing their babies and launching them into the world (sometimes with disastrous results!)  If we could offer crawling and flying insects as well we would have a much wider variety of birds to welcome to our space, but unfortunately that is a little more difficult than buying a packet of seeds or a loaf of bread from the local supermarket!

Some of the birds we’ve fed here include :

Bulbuls, blue waxbills, red-headed finches, southern masked weavers, red-billed queleas, rosy-faced lovebirds, southern red bishops, long-tailed paradise whydahs, chestnut weavers, acacia pied barbets, shaft-tailed whydahs, laughing doves, speckled pigeons, pale-winged starlings, great sparrows, canaries, white-browed sparrow weavers.  (I’m sure there are a few that have slipped my mind!)

It’s delightful to start the day off watching these beautiful little creatures getting stuck in to their breakfast.  Kind of sets a peaceful tone for the rest of the day.  An added bonus is that we can photograph them too.

 

 

 

Previously called the Melba finch, the Green-winged pytilia is a popular cage bird.

The males and females are similar in size, but are quite different in their plumage. The male has a red forehead, throat and cheeks; grey head, face and nape of the neck. The rump is red; the tail brown with red edging; the breast is a greeny-gold colour and the balance of the under-parts are white barred with black, The female lacks the red on the head, the entire head being grey, and the throat and breast are white barred with black. Both sexes have orange-red bills and grey-brown legs and feet.

Green-winged pytilias feed mainly on seeds and insects, particularly termites. They generally forage on fairly open ground or in low vegetation, in pairs or in small groups. They are quite shy and retiring by nature and in spite of their bright colouring are often overlooked.

Green-winged pytilias are monogamous and build a nest that is an untidy ball of dry grass with a side entrance, and is generally located in a thorny bush just one to two metres above the ground. The females usually lay a clutch of four or five white eggs that hatch after an incubation period of about 14 days. The nest may be parasitized by the Long-tailed paradise whydah (Vidua paradisaea).

The scientific binomial for the Green-winged pytilia is Pytilia melba; Pytilia from the Greek for the diminutive form of the grosbeak genus Pitylus; and melba which was the name used by Linnaeus, apparently without explanation and the derivation of which is unknown.