There are a lot of long tailed birds in South Africa. These first
three are all African long tailed shrikes. Shrikes are mini predators who catch mostly
insects, but also small lizards and the like. They hang around in small groups and
perch on shrubs or tall grasses waiting for a meal to come by that they can grab with
their strong, slightly hooked beak.
Adult female
Adult male with juvenile looking at him from above--both in a
more common pose than the picture above. The adult has his head cocked
looking at the ground for bugs.
Another juvenile which will be black,rather than brown, when mature.
Redbilled quelea are renowned for devastating grain crops--they descend on a
field in huge numbers and devour the seeds. Their flocks often number in the millions and
almost look like smoke from a distance. They all twitter when flying so it's quite a noise
too. We didn't see the huge flocks this trip that we saw in Zimbabwe before, but there were
lots of small flocks. They are rarely still for a moment to get a picture, but these, which
were about one percent of this group, perched in this bush briefly between getting quick drinks
from a small waterhole. The ones with the red on the front and head are the males.
When they drink, they flow down as a group and just catch a sip on the fly,
often dipping in a little. They look like moving fabric rather than individual birds and
the noise of the twittering and the wings is amazing. If Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds
bothered you, you don't want to be near a quelea flock.
Remember those flapping fish in the shrinking water by the hippos
before? Here are two Marabou storks who have had their fill and are taking
a break. You can see the inflated breeding display pouch on the one on the
left and the fish in the background.