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

Bird name: Tawny Eagle
Latin: Aquila rapax
Other:
Family: Accipitridae • Eagles

A couple of nice shots of Tawny Eagles, sent in by André, taken in the Serengeti. These large eagles breed in Africa and Asia, and all the way to India.

Aquila eagles can be identified by their feathered legs. The Tawny Eagle is known for its slightly scruffy appearance.More photos...

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

Bird name: Yellow Billed Kite
Latin: Milvus aegyptius
Other:
Family: Accipitridae • Kites, Birds of Prey
Range:
Similar:

The Yellow-billed Kite was thought conspecific with the Black Kite, but is increasingly regarded as a separate allopatric (i.e. divided geographically, in evolutionary terms) species, confined to Africa.

As you can see from these photos, sent in by André and taken in the Serengeti, the Yellow-billed Kite has a yellow bill, whereas the Black Kite has a black-tipped bill.
More photos...

Photo copyright: AS/monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Tanzania, Oct 2009

Bird name: Common Bulbul
Latin: Pycnonotus barbatus
Other: Dark-capped Bulbul, Black-eyed Bulbul
Family: Pycnonotidae • Bulbuls

Nice shot of a Common Bulbul near Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. This bird is widespread throughout Africa. I understand the Tanzanian subspecies is likely to be the Dark-capped Bulbul, with yellow near the base of the underside.More photos...

Photo copyright: AS/monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Lake Victoria, Oct 2009

Bird name: Blue Capped Cordon Bleu
Latin: Uraeginthus cyanocephalus
Other:
Family: Estrildidae • Cordon-bleus

And one slightly blurry shot of a Blue-capped Cordon-Bleu seen at Lake Victoria in Tanzania. This bird is native to East Africa.More photos...

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

Bird name: Magpie Shrike
Latin: Urolestes melanoleucus
Other: African Long-tailed Shrike
Family: Laniidae • Shrikes

Here are a couple of Magpie Shrikes seen in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

Identified by their long tail feathers and black and white markings.More photos...

Photo copyright: AS/monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Tanzania, Oct 2009

Bird name: Purple Grenadier
Latin: Uraeginthus ianthinogaster
Other:
Family: Estrildidae • Estrildid Finches

A couple of record shots of a male Purple Grenadier taken near Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, by André, showing the main distinguishing features.More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Eze, Oct 2009

Bird name: Red Kite
Latin: Milvus milvus
Other: Milan royal (Fr) • Nibbio reale (It) • Milano real (Es) • Rotmilan (De)
Family: Accipitridae • Kites, Birds of Prey
Range:
Similar:

A few flight shots of a couple of Red Kites during autumn migration on the Cote d’Azur. Red Kites are not typical residents of the Alpes Maritimes, but some fly along the coast during migration. About 40 were recorded flying past Eze in 2008. The peak day for migration, with between 5 to 20 birds recorded typically, is around the 23rd of October. These photos were taken on the 2nd of October.

There is just enough detail to see the main identifying feature of the Red Kite, its wide forked tail, which distinguishes it from the Black Kite in flight. The light “window” near the end of the wings is also lighter, and the body more rufous, than the corresponding areas on the Black Kite.More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Itatiaia, Nov 2009

Bird name: Plumbeous Pigeon
Latin: Patagioenas plumbea
Other: Pomba-amargosa (Br)
Family: Columbidae • Pigeon

A serene Plumbeous Pigeon resting atop the apex of a roof in the Itatiaia National Park, in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Plumbeous Pigeons are found throughout much of South America.

Plumbeous Pigeons have no strong markings that identify them once their wings are closed, other than a pinkish purple colouring to the face and neck area.

Some pigeons appeared to take advantage of the cloaking of heavy mists to make longer flights across the valley.More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Ubatuba, Nov 2009

Bird name: Black Hawk Eagle
Latin: Spizaetus tyrannus
Other: Tyrant Hawk-Eagle • Gavião-pega-macaco (Br)
Family: Accipitridae • Hawk Eagles

Pretty certain this was a Black Hawk-Eagle, flying fast towards trees not far from the beach - seen early one morning in Ubatuba, Brazil. The Black Hawk-Eagle is found from northern Argentina to Mexico.

This Black Hawk-Eagle was identified by the strongly barred black and white underside and tail. He seemed to be carrying something in his yellow talons. The Black Hawk-eagle is known as Gavião-pega-macaco in Brazil, in other words, the Catch-a-monkey Hawk !More photos...

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

Bird name: Marabou Stork
Latin: Leptoptilos crumeniferus
Other:
Family: Ciconiidae • Storks
Range:
Similar:

The Marabou Stork is a huge bird, with a wingspan of about three and a half metres. It often scavenges at rubbish tips and at carcasses with vultures. This rather grizzly-looking bird is sometimes called the undertaker bird.

Marabou Storks are found in sub-Saharan Africa. André took these photos in Amboseli and Serengeti National Parks in east Africa.More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Lagoa do Peixe, Nov 2009

Bird name: White Faced Whistling Duck
Latin: Dendrocygna viduata
Other: Irerê (Br) • Suirirí cariblanco (Es), Suirirí de la pampa, Iguasa careta
Family: Anatidae • Ducks, Whistling Ducks

The White-faced Whistling Ducks below were photographed at the Lagoa do Peixe in Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, where they were not uncommon.

Easy to identify by their white facial band. The White-faced Whistling Duck breeds in South America and sub-Saharan Africa.More photos...

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

Bird name: Yellow Billed Oxpecker
Latin: Buphagus africanus
Other:
Family: Buphagidae • Oxpeckers

These Yellow-billed Oxpeckers are picking ticks off an Eland in the Serengeti in Tanzania.

The Yellow-billed Oxpecker can be differentiated from the Red-billed Oxpecker by the yellow base to its bill. It lives in a wide band of sub-Saharan Africa.More photos...

Photo copyright: AS/monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Lake Nakuru, Oct 2009

Bird name: Red Billed Oxpecker
Latin: Buphagus erythrorhynchus
Other:
Family: Buphagidae • Oxpeckers

Red-billed Oxpeckers picking ticks off White Rhino at Lake Nakuru in Kenya.

Red-billed Oxpeckers live in East Africa.

Oxpeckers have been classed in Sturnidae, the Starlings, in the past, but here are placed in their own family the Buphagidae.More photos...

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

Bird name: Red Winged Starling
Latin: Onychognathus morio
Other:
Family: Sturnidae • Starlings

The characteristic red patch of this male Red-winged Starling is hidden behind the plants.

The Red-winged Starling lives in eastern Africa - this photo was taken in Ngorongoro in Tanzania.More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Verdon, April 2010

Bird name: Red Billed Chough
Latin: Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
Other: Chough • Crave à bec rouge (Fr) • Chova piquirroja (Es) • Gracchio corallino (It) • Alpenkrähe (De)
Family: Corvidae • Crows, Choughs
Range:
Similar:

The Red-billed Chough, or simply Chough, is not common in central Europe but can be found in scattered populations.

A large group was seen here in the Gorges du Verdon, at 1200m, where they live on the vertical walls of the gorge - a good place to see them in France.

The range of the Chough extends all the way from Spain to the eastern Himalayas, with a few colonies in Africa.

Choughs are typically high mountain birds, but will breed on steep rock walls even on the coast.

They can be distinguished from the similar Alpine Chough by their red (not yellow) bills, although juvenile Choughs have yellow bills. Choughs’ bills are long and curved. Feet are also red.More photos...

Photos copyright: monacoeye • Verdon Apr 2010 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Black Vulture
Latin: Aegypius monachus
Other: Cinereous Vulture, Monk Vulture, Eurasian Black Vulture • Vautour moine (Fr) • Buitre negro (Es) • Avvoltoio monaco (It)
Family: Accipitridae • Old World Vultures, Birds of Prey
Range:
Similar:

A program for reintroducing the Black Vulture in the Gorges du Verdon was started in 2005. So far about a dozen have been released. I saw this one a couple of days ago.

The Black Vulture’s range extends from Spain, in the west, to the eastern Himalayas, with a notable absence in most of central and eastern Europe, where it is being reintroduced in several locations.

Although not very clear from this distant photo, the Black Vulture has dark markings on the face, and unlike the Griffon Vulture, no lighter coverts. The tail of these European vultures appears proportionally short when compared to the Golden Eagle and other smaller birds of prey.

The Black Vulture, also called Cinereous Vulture or Monk Vulture, is one of the largest birds of prey in the world, with close to a three-metre wingspan. It is dominant at feeding sites.

The Andean Condor is only slightly larger and not in the same family grouping. This Eurasian Black Vulture, an Old-World Vulture, is also not directly related to the similarly named American Black Vulture, which, like the Condor, is a New World Vulture.

The Black Vulture is classed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.More photos...

Photos copyright: monacoeye • 2009 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Egyptian Vulture
Latin: Neophron percnopterus
Other: Percnoptère (Fr), Vautour percnoptère • Alimoche (Es), Guirre, Buitre egipcio • Capovaccaio (It)
Family: Accipitridae • Old World Vultures, Birds of Prey
Range:
Similar:

The Egyptian Vulture is a small vulture found in small numbers from southwestern Europe to Asia.

Instantly recognisable by its yellow bill and, in flight, diamond-shaped tail.

The Egyptian Vulture is classed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.More photos...

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

Bird name: White Backed Vulture
Latin: Gyps africanus
Other: African White-backed Vulture
Family: Accipitridae • Old World Vultures, Birds of Prey
Range:
Similar:

The adult White-backed Vulture has a white collar, white downy feathers on neck, and dark bill, the latter differentiating it from the Rüppel’s Vulture. I understand the darker birds are juvenile White-backed Vultures.

The lowest photo in “more photos” shows two Lappet-faced Vultures on left, with White-backed Vultures on right.

The White-backed Vulture has recently moved to Near-Threatened status on IUCN Red List.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Santa Catarina • May 2007 • Do not copy

Bird name: American Black Vulture
Latin: Coragyps atratus
Other: Black Vulture • South American Black Vulture • Urubu (Br) • Zopilote Común (Es)
Family: Cathartidae • New World Vultures
Range:
Similar: Turkey Vulture, Comparison

The American Black Vulture’s range extends from the southern US to the southernmost tip of Brazil. The Brazilian subspecies, Coragyps atratus brasiliensis, is known as the South American Black Vulture.

These photos were taken in Brazil, where the Urubu, as the bird is known locally, is a familiar sight and always to be found on beaches where fisherman operate, as well as rubbish dumps, and just “around town” generally.

American Black Vultures are large birds, with one-metre-fifty wingspans - they are elegant gliders and have a slow and lazy wingbeat. Underside of wings are lightish (but usually look black against the sky) with dark coverts and white wing tips. The uppersides are black with light wingtips (see below in “more photos”).

Not to be confused with the Eurasian Black Vulture.

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Ubatuba • October 2009 • Do not copy

More photos...