Photos copyright: AS/monacoeye • Lake Manyara • Oct 2009 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Spotted Morning Thrush
Latin: Cichladusa guttata
Other:
Family: Muscicapidae • Palm Thrushes

The Spotted Morning-thrush is found in eastern sub-Saharan Africa. These were seen at Lake Manyara and Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.

The Spotted-morning thrush is identified by its strongly spotted chest. Here also with rufous tail.

This ID probably needs confirmation…

More photos...

Photos copyright: AS/monacoeye • Lake Manyara • Oct 2009 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: African Grey Hornbill
Latin: Tockus nasutus
Other:
Family: Bucerotidae • Hornbills

Nice shots of a female African Grey Hornbill at Lake Manyara in Tanzania. Its range extends throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa and into Arabia.

The female African Grey Hornbill can be distinguished from the male by the red she has on her bill, where the male’s bill is black.

More photos...

Photos copyright: AS/monacoeye • Serengeti • Oct 2009 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Silvery Cheeked Hornbill
Latin: Bycanistes brevis
Other:
Family: Bucerotidae • Hornbills

Fantastic looking Silvery-cheeked Hornbills, seen here feeding at Lake Manyara in Tanzania, by André.

They have a huge cream-coloured casque on the bill (males’, above, is larger) dark plumage with a white stripe running down the back.

In “more photos” you can see how delicately they can hold a small fruit in that huge bill of theirs.

More photos...

Photos copyright: AS/monacoeye • Serengeti • Oct 2009 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Little Bee Eater
Latin: Merops pusillus
Other:
Family: Meropidae • Bee Eaters

The Little Bee-eater is found throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa.

There are 24 species of Bee-eater worldwide, mostly in the genus Merops. Bee-eaters live in the Old World from Africa to Australia, with the highest number in Africa.

They almost exclusively eat insects, usually catching them on the wing, with a predilection for bees and wasps. Insects with stings are knocked against a hard surface then rubbed, with the bird’s eyes closed, to discharge the venom.

Thanks to André for sending in these pictures from Tanzania.More photos...

Photo copyright: AS/TC/monacoeye • Tanzania

Bird name: Grey Headed Kingfisher
Latin: Halcyon leucocephala
Other: Gray-headed Kingfisher
Family: Alcedinidae • Kingfishers
Range:
Similar:

These Grey-headed Kingfishers were seen on the Serengeti River and Lake Manyara in Tanzania. Their range covers much of sub-Saharan Africa into southern Arabia.

The Grey-headed Kingfisher hunts insects and small lizards - not fish.More photos...

Photo copyright: AS/monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Lake Manyara • Oct 2009

Bird name: Nubian Woodpecker
Latin: Campethera nubica
Other:
Family: Picidae • Woodpeckers

The Nubian Woodpecker is found in Central and Eastern Africa. Seen here at Lake Manyara, Kenya.More photos...

Photo copyright: AS/monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Olduvai Gorge • Oct 2009

Bird name: Red and Yellow Barbet
Latin: Trachyphonus erythrocephalus
Other:
Family: Columbidae • Doves

I believe that’s a female Red-and-yellow Barbet above, without the black crest, taken at Olduvai Gorge, and a male, with black crest, below seen at Lake Manyara.

More photos...

Photo copyright: AS/monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Lake Manyara • Oct 2009

Bird name: Fork Tailed Drongo
Latin: Dicrurus adsimilis
Other:
Family: Dicruridae • Drongos

These Fork-tailed Drongos were seen near Lake Manyara in Tanzania. There are about 28 species of Drongo in the world, living in tropical Africa, Asia and Australasia. The Fork-tailed Drongo is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa.More photos...