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Bird Watching: Tanzania’s Spectacular Birdlife

Editor — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:10:12 +0000

If you’re an avid bird watcher and you enjoy traveling to the far-flung corners of the earth in search of prime specimens, Tanzania should be your next birding destination. This beautiful corner of the African continent is home to a surprising number of strikingly different birds. What’s more, family members can join you in your travels and experience the safari of a lifetime.

When most people picture Africa, they think of the Serengeti with its open, grassy plains. Much of Tanzania does feature this sort of open grassy terrain – a terrain which makes for easy bird watching. But Tanzania enjoys a somewhat varied terrain and you will find small pockets of ancient forest that are heavily populated by birds. The Kilombero Valley is also an excellent place to go bird watching in Tanzania and visitors may make the most of the beautiful river that runs through the valley to seek out a variety of water fowl. Canoe safaris in the area allow you to get very close to the beautiful birds living in the area. As if that wasn’t enough, you can also head to the Sadaani National Park where you can head out to the beach in search of seabirds. In totally there are approximately 1113 species of bird found in Tanzania – 29 of which are endemic. Clearly every bird watcher will enjoy a birding trip to Tanzania!

But exactly what sort of birds can you expect to see in Tanzania? Well, with the area regularly providing a home to 1113 species of bird, we certainly aren’t going to name them all here. But some regularly spotted birds include the likes of the adorable little hoopoe, the colorful bee-eater, the strikingly graceful crowned-crane and the unusual secretary bird. The instantly recognizable cry of the fish eagle will ring out above well-watered areas, while a variety of parrots will vie for your attention in heavily forested areas. And of course, no trip to Africa would be complete without a sighting of the biggest bird in the world – the ostrich. This curious, flightless bird can be spotted both in its natural state in the wild and in a somewhat more domesticated state near game reserve chalets. So book your stay in Tanzania now and make sure that you don’t miss out on this fantastic birding opportunity.

A Look at the Intriguing Lives of Honeyguides

Editor — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:03:58 +0000

Honeyguides, also known as indicator birds or honeybirds, are a relatively small Old World family of near-passerine birds, related to woodpeckers and barbets. Honeyguides are entirely parasitic, laying their eggs in the already occupied, but temporarily vacated, nests of other hole-nesting species such as barbets, kingfishers, bee-eaters, woodpeckers and tinkerbirds. For this reason, honeyguides are often treated as pariahs by other birds in their neighborhood. Birding enthusiasts agree that these aggressive, opportunistic little birds are fascinating to watch.

Seventeen species in four genera make up the family Indicatoridae, all of which have light outer tail feathers and most of which are rather dull-colored, although a few species have some bright yellow in their plumage. The majority of honeyguide species are found in Africa with two being found in Asia. As brood parasites, during the breeding season honeyguides generally lay one egg a day over a five to seven day period. Each egg is laid in a different “host” nest, leaving the adopted parents to hatch and raise the invader offspring. Honeyguide nestlings puncture the other un-hatched eggs in the nest and kill any hatchlings with their strong claws and hooked bills, alternatively they push their adopted siblings out of the nest and to certain death.

Sixteen of the honeyguide species sing, producing a variety of sounds to suit the circumstances. They have strong wings and are able to carry out complicated aerial maneuvers. During courtship, males woo potential mates with an impressive display of flying and singing, the latter being accompanied by the fluffing out of feathers, arching of the neck and a quivering tail.

Honeyguides are so named for the amazing ability of some of the species to guide humans and other large honey-eating mammals directly to bee colonies. This is no selfless act of generosity though, and once the beehive has been opened by the obliging mammal, the honeyguide feasts on the remaining beeswax and larvae, as well as waxworms – medium sized white caterpillars that live as nest parasites in beehives. In the absence of bee colonies, honeyguides will eat flying and crawling insects, spiders and sometimes plant matter. They are adept at catching flying insects in flight and their bills are well suited to probing for insects in tree bark. Honeyguides are also known to frequent camping grounds in search of food, and they will aggressively ward off any other birds that may show an interest in their food source.

Although no honeyguide species are currently considered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to be threatened, three species – the Malaysian honeyguide, Yellow-rumped honeyguide and Dwarf honeyguide – are in danger of becoming threatened, mainly as a result of habitat destruction due to extensive deforestation in Africa and Asia. Positive steps will be taken by the World Conservation Union in an attempt to ensure that these fascinating birds will still be around for future generations of birding enthusiasts to enjoy.

Oxpeckers – Cleaners or Parasites?

Editor — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:45:45 +0000

The two species of oxpecker which make up the family Buphagidae are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. The yellow-billed oxpecker (Buphagus africanus) is slightly larger and more widely found than its red-billed cousin (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) which is generally only found in the eastern part of sub-Saharan Africa.

Oxpeckers are medium-sized birds which some ornithologists regard as a subfamily of starlings (Sturnidae). Their plumage is light brown with the most prominent distinguishing factor between the two species being the color of their bills. They lay two or three eggs in their nests in holes or the hollows of trees and use hair plucked from their hosts to line their nests. Open country is the habitat of choice for these gregarious, insect eating birds.

The oxpecker’s name, both English and scientific, is derived from their feeding habits. Oxpeckers perch on large mammals, wild and domestic, and eat parasites such as ticks and botfly larvae which lodge in mammalian skin. Many consider this to be a symbiotic relationship where both parties benefit. The bird gets food and the animal gets rid of its parasites. However, the favorite food of an oxpecker is blood and, although they eat blood filled ticks, they also peck at their hosts wounds thereby feeding directly on the animal’s blood and encouraging more parasites to settle on the animal. The relationship between the bird and its host is therefore to some extent parasitic in nature.

Red-billed oxpeckers use a scissoring motion to search through the hair of their hosts and they are often seen working through the manes of a giraffe in this manner. Yellow-billed oxpeckers, on the other hand, use a pecking motion, possibly because their bills are thicker and less dexterous. They favor short-haired animals such as buffalo and rhino. Oxpeckers are often observed working deep inside the ears of animals in search of food, a habit which most animals seem to tolerate.

In the early 1900s, oxpeckers were considered to be extinct as a breeding species in South Africa. The over-hunting of buffalo and rhino, as well as arsenic dipping of domestic cattle was possibly to blame for this situation. The re-introduction of oxpeckers into the Kruger National Park has resulted in breeding colonies spreading. As a result, the oxpecker has been moved from being listed as extinct, to vulnerable.

Certainly the oxpecker seems to be somewhat of a mixed blessing to its host, with the benefits of having parasites removed by the bird, generally outweighing the bird’s own parasitic behavior.