© GW - monacoeye • all rights reserved • Gambia, Feb 2013

Bird name: Northern Grey-headed Sparrow
Latin: Passer griseus
Other: Gray-headed Sparrow. Moineau gris (Fr)
Family: Passeridae • Sparrows
Range: Tropical Africa
Similar:

The Northern Grey-headed Sparrow.More photos...

© GW - monacoeye • all rights reserved • Gambia, Feb 2013

Bird name: Black-necked Weaver
Latin: Ploceus nigricollis
Other: Tisserin à cou noir (Fr)
Family: Ploceidae • Weavers
Range: Tropical Africa, Senegal, Angola to Tanzania
Similar: Spectacled Weaver

Above, my only sighting of a brachypterus Black-necked Weaver in the Gambia, in the bamboo grove at the Senegambia Hotel. Below, a nigricollis female in Kinshasa.

Alexia W - female nigricollis Black-necked Weaver, Kinshasa • Nov 2009

© GW - monacoeye • all rights reserved • Gambia, Feb 2013

Bird name: Village Weaver
Latin: Ploceus cucullatus
Other: Tisserin gendarme (fr), Dorfweber (De), Grote textorwever (Nl)
Family: Ploceidae • Weavers
Range: Sub-Saharan Africa
Similar:

The Village Weaver was one of the most commonly seen birds in the Gambia. In February and March it’s in non-breeding plumage, so identified here principally by the red iris.

Further below in breeding plumage in Angola.More photos...

© Alexia W - monacoeye • all rights reserved • Kinshasa, Dec 2010

Bird name: Blue Waxbill
Latin: Uraeginthus angolensis
Other: Blue-breasted Cordon Bleu, Southern Cordon-bleu. Cordonbleu d'Angola (Fr)
Family: Estrildidae • Estrildid Finches, Cordon-bleus
Range: Southern Africa
Similar: female Red-Cheeked Cordon Bleu

Above, near a waterfall near Kinshasa, DRC. It looks very similar to female Red-Cheeked Cordon Bleu but Blue Waxbill is the common type in Kinshasa.More photos...

© GW - monacoeye.com, all rights reserved • Cattle Egret, Camargue, March.

Bird name: Western Cattle Egret
Latin: Bubulcus ibis
Other: Héron Garde-Boeuf (Fr) • Garcilla bueyera (Es) • Garça-vaqueira (Pt) • Airone guardabuoi (It)
Family: Ardeidae • Herons, Egrets
Range: North America, South America, Africa, Southern Europe to Central Asia
Similar:

The IOC (1.6) split the Cattle Egret into Western and Eastern forms, the latter being found in Australasia.

The Western Cattle Egret has a short yellowy orange bill, hairy under bill, yellow iris, orange patches in breeding plumage. Smallest of the white egrets. Often follows cattle and large mammals. Abundant in some areas. Hundreds at Kotu, Gambia.

Cattle Egrets roost, Regua, Brazil, September.


Cattle Egret, Gambia, February 2013.
More photos...

Photos copyright: AW/monacoeye • Luanda • November 2009 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Purple Banded Sunbird
Latin: Nectarinia bifasciata
Other: Cinnyris bifasciatus
Family: Nectariniidae • Sunbirds

Probably a Purple-banded Sunbird, but could be a Crimson Sunbird. Seen in Luanda, Angola. Female above, male below.

More photos...

Photo copyright: A/monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Angola • Nov 2009

Bird name: Red Backed Mousebird
Latin: Colius castanotus
Other:
Family: Coliidae • Mousebirds

These Mousebirds, the first on the site, have been identified for me as Red-backed Mousebirds, which are endemic to Angola and the DRC. Although the Red-backed Mousebird looks similar to the Speckled Mousebird, I am told the Red-backed Mousebird is the one seen in Luanda, so that’s what I’m going with here. This group were in the hotel grounds.

There are only six species of Mousebird in the world, all living in sub-Saharan Africa. They form their own order, the Coliiformes, which is close to Passeriformes.More photos...

Photo copyright: A/monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Angola • Nov 2009

Bird name: Spectacled Weaver
Latin: Ploceus ocularis
Other:
Family: Ploceidae • Weavers
Range:
Similar:

A pair of Spectacled Weavers, again seen in the hotel grounds in Luanda.More photos...