Birds in Africa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1988-1993, I participated in four expeditions to Tanzania, the aim of which was to count wintering waders, and to investigate bird life in coastal forests. In the forests, we caught birds in mistnets, and the major part of the portraits below stem from this work.

Families, genera, and species are presented in alphabetical order. The text is largely based on the websites ebird.org and Wikipedia, the etymology most often on J.A. Jobling 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names, Christopher Helm, London. Nomenclature largely follows the IOC World Bird List (worldbirdnames.org).

I have used the former name Zaire for the country today officially known as The Democratic Republic of Congo, as I find that name somewhat laborious. Furthermore, you can hardly place the term ‘democratic’ on a country that, for decades, has been pervaded by a chaos of violence.

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for eagle, perhaps derived from aquilus (‘dark in colour’).

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin rapere (‘to seize’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name commemorates French naturalist Jules Verreaux (1807-1873), who visited southern Africa in the late 1820s. He collected the type specimen there.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin name of the common buzzard (B. buteo). The English name is derived from Old French busard, which is a corruption of the classical Latin name.

 

An augur was a priest in Ancient Rome, whose main role was to interprete the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds – whether they were flying in groups or alone, what kind of noise they made, the direction of flight, and what kind of birds they were. The observation of eagles, hawks, and owls was particularly significant. Why the name was applied to this particular species is not clear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek oros (‘mountain’) and philos (‘loving’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kirkos, a type of hawk, in this connection associated with harriers (Circus); and aetos (‘eagle’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘ash-grey’, from cinis (‘ashes’) – not a good name for this mainly brown bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, derived from fasciola (‘little band’), ultimately from fascia (‘band’), thus ‘the one with little bands’, alluding to the narrow bands on the lower breast and belly.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of elanos, the classical Greek word for kite.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin caelum (‘sky’), and a diminutive suffix, thus ‘the small one of the sky’, i.e. having the colour of the sky, thus ‘sky-blue’, alluding to the bluish sheen in the plumage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species is unique among vultures, as it feeds mainly on the fleshy husks of fruits of palms of the genera Elaeis and Raffia, which constitute more than 60% of the diet of adult birds and over 90% of the diet of juveniles. It also feeds on crabs, molluscs, frogs, fish, locusts, small mammals, and reptiles’ eggs and hatchlings, and it will occasionally attack domestic poultry, or feed on carrion.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek gyps (‘vulture’) and hierax (‘hawk’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Greek term for vulture.

The African species have decreased dramatically in numbers in recent years. Both species below have declined by over 90%, especially in West Africa, and they are now regarded as critically endangered.

Vultures in the Indian Subcontinent have also diminished alarmingly since the 1980s. More about this issue is found on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in the Indian Subcontinent.

 

Previously, it was thought to be conspecific with the Asian white-rumped vulture (G. bengalensis), but today most authorities regard them as separate species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was named in honour of German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (1794-1884), who collected numerous specimens of plants and animals in Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek hali (‘of the sea’) and aetos (‘eagle’). Despite the name ‘sea-eagle’, many of the species are living at freshwater areas inland. These species are termed ‘fish-eagles’.

 

It was described by French naturalist François Levaillant (1753-1824), who named it vocifer (’the one who has a penetrating voice’) – a most suitable name for this eagle, whose scream is often resounding over the African landscape. It is the national bird of no less than three countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Sudan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At present, this bird is placed in the monotypic genus Lophaetus, but genetic research indicates that it is closely related to the spotted eagles, genus Clanga.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek lophos (‘crest’) and aetos (‘eagle’), the specific name from the Latin occipitium (‘the back of the head’), alluding to the position of the crest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek melos (‘song’) and hierax (‘hawk’), alluding to their melodious piping call.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek polios (‘grey’) and pteros (‘wing’).

Formerly, southern African birds were included in this species, but have now been split to form a separate species, the pale chanting goshawk (M. canorus).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek mikros (‘small’) and nisus, the classical Latin name of the common sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), borrowed from Ancient Greek nisos.

In Greek mythology, Nisos was a king of Megara, who possessed a purple lock of hair, which would protect him and his kingdom. According to one version of the legend, when King Minos of Crete besieged Megara, he tempted Nisos’s daughter Scylla with a golden necklace to betray and kill her father. In another version, she fell in love with Minos from a distance, and after cutting off her father’s purple lock, she presented it to Minos. However, Minos was disgusted with her act, calling her a disgrace. As Minos’s ships set sail, Scylla attempted to climb up one of them, but Nisos, who had turned into a sea eagle, attacked her, and she fell into the water and drowned. She was changed into a bird, possibly a heron, constantly pursued by Nisos.

The specific name is derived from the French garde (‘watchman’ or ‘guard’) and barré (‘barred’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin name of the red kite (M. milvus).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek nekros (‘corpse’) and syro (‘to drag’). The specific name is a Latinized version of Ancient Greek monakhos (‘monk’, i.e. ‘hooded’), alluding to the almost naked head and neck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three subspecies are currently recognized, the nominate northern and African birds, which have a mainly grey bill, Indian birds of subspecies ginginianus with a yellow bill, and finally a separate, larger subspecies, majorensis, in the eastern Canary Islands.

It lives in open areas, nesting on cliffs, less frequently in trees. Besides feeding on carcasses, it is often encountered at rubbish dumps, and it will also prey on small mammals, birds, and reptiles. It is among the few bird species known to use tools. Eggs of other birds, which are too large to break open with the bill, are broken by tossing stones onto them, using the bill.

This species is also in decline over much of its range due to habitat destruction, hunting, poisoning, and collision with power lines.

The generic name stems from the Greek mythology. Neophron and Aegypius were young men and close friends, but it upset Neophron that his mother Timandra was having a love affair with Aegypius. To punish Aegypius, Neophron made advances towards Aegypius’ mother, Bulis. He succeeded and enticed Bulis into entering the dark chamber where his mother and Aegypius were soon to meet. Neophron then distracted his mother, tricking Aegypius into entering the chamber and sleeping with his own mother. When Bulis discovered the deception, she gouged out the eyes of her son before killing herself. Aegypius prayed for revenge, but Zeus, instead of helping him, changed both young men into vultures as a punishment.

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek perknos (‘dark-coloured’) and pteron (‘wing’).

In ancient Egypt, the bird was held sacred to the Moon God Isis, and its protection by Pharaonic law made it common in the streets, giving rise to the name pharaoh’s chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

It is the sole member of the genus. The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek polemos (‘battle’ or ‘war’) and aetos (‘eagle’). The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘aggressive’, derived from bellum (‘war’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On average, it is a little smaller than the martial eagle, but is just as powerful, living mainly on mammals such as duikers, rock hyraxes, and monkeys.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek stephanos (‘crown’) and aetos (‘eagle’), like the specific and common names alluding to a fairly large and bushy crest on the crown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is widely distributed in open areas south of the Sahara, avoiding rainforest and the Somali Desert.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek teras (‘wonder’ or ‘marvel’) and ops (‘appearance’), presumably referring to the exceptional flight style of this bird, which twists and turns, often making somersaults. This is probably also the reason for the common name bateleur, French for ‘street performer’, but originally meaning ‘a tightrope walker’ or ‘balancer’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is widely distributed from the Sahel Zone and southern Egypt southwards to northern South Africa, and also on the Arabian Peninsula. It has disappeared from many areas, and is still in decline.

The generic name is a classical Greek word for vulture, whereas the specific name is derived from Ancient Greek trakhelia (‘meat scraps of the neck’), ultimately from trakhelos (‘neck’); and ous (‘ear’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek trion (‘three’) and gonia (‘angle’), and the Latin ceps (‘headed’), the specific name from the Latin occipitium (‘the back of the head’), thus ‘the one with the angled back of the head’ – a most descriptive name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek ammos (‘sand’) and manes (‘passionately fond of’), from mania (‘passion’), alluding to the fact that these birds mainly live in sandy areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a diminutive of Ancient Greek kalandros, the calandra lark (Melanocorypha calandra). Apparently, Kaup found that the type species, the greater short-toed lark (C. brachydactyla) resembled a small calandra lark.

A number of species, which were previously placed in this genus, have been moved to other genera.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘ash-grey’ – a strange name for this species with its reddish cap, brown upper parts, and whitish underside.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a combination of two other generic names of larks, Calendula and Alauda.

 

The specific name is derived from the Tswana word sebotha, the name for various larks.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek eremos (‘desert’) and pteron (‘wing’), i.e. ‘birds of the desert’.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and pareion (‘cheek’). The common name commemorates German explorer Gustav Adolf Fischer (1848-1886), who explored parts of East Africa 1876-1886. Shortly after returning to Germany he died of a bilious fever, contracted during his travels.

 

 

 

 

 

The etymology of the generic name is obscure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These birds are divided into 3 subfamilies: river kingfishers (Alcedininae), tree kingfishers (Halcyoninae), and water kingfishers (Cerylinae).

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kerylos, an unidentified bird mentioned by scientist and philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) and other authors. This bird was probably mythical, associated with the halkyon (see genus Halcyon below).

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘rude’ or ‘uncultivated’. This strange name was applied by Swedish naturalist Fredrik Hasselquist (1722-1752) who probably confused the Latin word hispida (‘kingfisher’) with hispidus (‘rough’ or ‘rude’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek korys (‘helmet’) and ornis (‘bird’), alluding to the bushy crest of the malachite kingfisher (below).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘crested’. The common name refers to malachite, a mineral that owes its green colour to a high content of copper. The upperparts and crown of this kingfisher are bright blue, so the common name is far from descriptive. However, some specimens has a greenish-blue band on the forehead.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is associated with a bird of Greek legend, called halkyon, generally thought to be the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis). The Ancients believed that this bird made a floating nest in the Aegean Sea and had the power to calm the waves while brooding her eggs. Two weeks of calm weather were to be expected when the halkyon was nesting, which took place around winter solstice. These halkyon days were generally regarded as beginning on the 14th or 15th of December.

This belief in the bird’s power to calm the sea originated in a myth recorded by Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso (43 B.C. – c. 17 A.D.), known as Ovid. The story goes that Aeolus, ruler of the winds, had a daughter named Alcyone, who was married to Ceyx, the king of Thessaly. Ceyx drowned at sea, and in her grief, Alcyone threw herself into the waves. However, instead of drowning, she was transformed into a bird and carried to her husband by the wind. (Source: phrases.org.uk)

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin albus (‘white’) and ventris (‘belly’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and kephale (‘head’), although the head is grey rather than white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin hispida (‘kingfisher’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘painted’, alluding to the colourful plumage of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek megas (‘great’), and the genus name Ceryle (above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek alopex (‘fox’) and chen (‘goose’), alluding to the ruddy colour around the eye, and on the hindneck, back, and inner flight feathers. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of Egypt’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for duck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek erythros (‘red’) and rhynkhos (‘bill’).

 

 

 

 

 

This species is sooty-brown or dark chocolate-brown with white bars on back and rump, bill dark with a white base. It is distributed in the major part of Africa, from the Sahel zone and Ethiopia southwards to South Africa, but avoids the rainforest areas of central Africa.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘speckled’.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘with wavy markings’, alluding to the pattern on the underside of this species.

 

 

 

 

 

The scientific names are derived from Ancient Greek kyaneos (‘dark blue’), chen (‘goose’), and pteron (‘wing’), thus ‘blue goose with a blue wing’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek dendron (‘tree’) and kyknos (‘swan’), alluding to the fact that these ducks often breed in tree cavities, and to their fairly long neck. Several members have clear, whistling calls, which gave rise to the popular name.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of two colours’, presumably alluding to the black wings, contrasting with the fulvous body.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘widowed’, from viduare ‘to be deprived of’, in this connection meaning ‘in mourning’, alluding to the black hindneck and neck of the bird, which somewhat resembles a mourning veil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traditionally, these birds are called pygmy geese, although genetic research indicates that they are more closely related to dabbling ducks than to geese. The name alludes to the short, goose-like bill.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek netta (‘duck’) and pous (‘foot’), Apparently, German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt (1802-1879), who erected the genus in 1836, regarded these birds as a kind of small geese due to their short bill, but also found that they possessed the feet and body of a duck.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘with large ears’, referring to the large green patch on the side of the neck.

 

 

 

 

 

Breeding males are a rich chestnut brown, females and non-breeding males brownish.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek oxys (‘sharp’) and oura (‘tail’).

 

This species has two disjunct breeding areas, from Eritrea southwards to Tanzania, and from Namibia and Zimbabwe southwards to the Cape Province.

The maccoa duck was named by the Boer, who apparently found that it resembled the domestic Muscovy duck, which, for some reason or other, they called makou. This was then corrupted to maccoa. In fact, the word makou is of Chinese origin, referring to the Portuguese enclave Macau.

 

 

 

 

 

The diet of this species includes blister beetles of the family Meloidae, which contain a poison, cantharidin. This poison is stored in its meat, and if you eat it, you may easily get poisoned. 10 mg of cantharidin is enough to kill a human.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek plektron (‘to sting’) and pteron (‘wing’), alluding to the spur on the wing. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘from the Gambia’. The type specimen was collected there. It was called the ‘Gambo-Goose’ by English naturalist John Ray (1627-1705) and was illustrated in the seminal work Ornithologiae Libri Tres (1676), which Ray wrote together with his friend and colleague Francis Willughby (1635-1672). Ray was pleased that the plates were “the best and truest, that is, most like the live Birds, of any hitherto engraven in Brass.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is probably derived from Ancient Greek sarx (‘meat’, or ‘body’) and ornis (‘bird’), maybe alluding to the compact body of the bird. The specific name is also Ancient Greek, derived from melas (‘black’) and noton (‘back’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the Latin word for ‘spoon’ or ‘spatula’, alluding to the spatulate bill of shovelers.

 

The specific name refers to the word Hottentot, which was the Boer term for the Khoisan people. However, this was a derogative term, and in later years many authorities have changed the popular name to blue-billed teal.

 

 

 

 

 

One or three species are found in the Old World. If only one species is acknowledged, it is called A. melanogaster. Most authorities, however, recognize three full species: Oriental (A. melanogaster), African (below), and Australasian (A. novaehollandiae).

The generic name means ‘little head’ in the Tupi language of Brazil, referring to an evil spirit of the forests, the devil bird. (Source: G. Marcgrave 1648. Historiae rerum naturalium Brasiliae. Liber V)

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘rufous’.

 

 

 

 

 

Many members of the family are presented on the page Fishing.

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for herons.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white’.

 

 

 

 

 

It is fairly common in Africa south of the Sahara, southwards to northern Namibia and Botswana, and north-eastern South Africa. Small numbers are also found in the marshes of southern Iraq, in southern Iran, and in Yemen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to its size, intermediate between the great white egret and the little egret (Egretta garzetta, below).

Some authorities place this bird in a separate genus, Mesophoyx.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and kephale (‘head’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the year, the plumage of these birds is buff or brownish, making them extremely well camouflaged among various types of vegetation. When they take to flight, however, they are transformed as if by magic, when their brilliant white wings are displayed.

The generic name is composed of the classical Latin word for heron, ardea, and ola, a suffix denoting something diminutive, thus ‘small heron’.

 

The specific name is derived from Rallus, the generic name of certain rails, and Ancient Greek –oides (‘resembling’), thus ‘resembling a rail’.

 

 

 

 

 

However, in the late 1800s it began expanding its range into southern Africa, and in 1877 it was observed in northern South America, having apparently flown across the Atlantic Ocean. By the 1930s, it had become established as a breeding bird in this area, rapidly spreading to North America, where it is now found as far north as southern Canada. In later years, it has also spread northwards in Europe.

As its name implies, it often follows cattle to snap grasshoppers and other small animals, flushed by the grazers. It is also often observed in newly ploughed fields. The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘cowherd’. The specific name is the classical Greek term for ibises. Why it was applied to the cattle egret is not clear.

Today, some authorities split the cattle egret into two species, the western (B. ibis) and the eastern (B. coromandus). Apart from minor differences, they are identical, so why this split was made, is incomprehensible. I prefer to regard all cattle egrets as a single species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is composed of Middle English botor (‘bittern’), and Ancient Greek oides (‘resembling’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Provençal French aigrette, a diminutive of aigron (‘heron’).

 

It is often debated among scientists, whether the dimorphic egret is a separate species, or a subspecies of the little egret, or of the western reef heron (both below). A review of the complex relationship between these species has been made by Don Turner. (The Egretta garzetta complex in East Africa: A case for one, two or three species. Scopus. Journal of East African Ornithology, Vol. 30, 2010)

Today, most authorities regard the 3 birds as separate species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is the Italian name for the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

Like the dimorphic egret, this bird has two colour morphs, black and white.

The specific name is derived from the Latin gula (‘throat’), presumably referring to the white throat-patch of the dark morph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The family name and the name of the type genus, Buceros, are derived from Ancient Greek bous (‘cow’) and keras (‘horn’), referring to a peculiar protuberance, or casque, on the bill of most species. Hornbills are very noisy, and the casque is probably a means to increase the volume of their call, which carries a long distance. The casque of males is larger than that of females.

A number of Asian species are described on the page Animals – Birds: Hornbills.

 

The generic name is a Latinized version of Ancient Greek bykanistes (‘trumpeter’), alluding to the loud call of these birds.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘short’. What it refers to is a bit of a mystery, as the bird is not at all short, but has a long tail. The popular name was given due to the silvery-grey dots on the side of the head and neck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘trumpeter’, from bucina (‘a military trumpet’). This bird must really be trumpeting, as the scientific name means ‘the trumpeting trumpeter’!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin sub (‘close to’), and cylindricus, the specific name of the brown-cheeked hornbill (B. cylindricus), thus ‘the one resembling brown-cheeked hornbill’. Cylindricus is derived from Ancient Greek kylindros (‘cylinder’), presumably referring to the somewhat cylinder-shaped casque of these two birds.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek lophos (‘crest’) and keras (‘horn’) – an odd name, as these birds have small casques.

 

This bird was named in honour of German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich (1796-1825), who travelled extensively in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. He died of malaria in Ethiopia, only 29 years old.

 

 

 

 

 

It lives in open woodland and savanna. The male has a black bill, whereas that of the female is blackish, often with reddish or yellowish parts. Both sexes have a conspicuous white stripe on the upper mandible.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘large-nosed’, derived from nasus (‘nose’), referring to the casque, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the French tock, applied to the African grey hornbill and the red-billed hornbill by French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788). Supposedly, this name was based on an onomatopoeic Senegalese name of these birds.

 

It was named in honour of a German explorer, Baron Karl Klaus von der Decken (1833-1865). He was the first European attempting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, but did not succeed due to foul weather. He also visited Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands. In 1865, he went to Somalia, exploring the lower parts of the Jubba River, on board the small steamship Welf. However, after the ship sank in rapids, he and three others in his party were murdered by hostile Somalis.

 

 

 

 

 

The five species/subspecies are as follows:

The northern red-billed hornbill (T. (e.) erythrorhynchus) is found from southern Mauritania eastwards to Eritrea and Somalia, and thence southwards to Kenya and northern Tanzania.

The western red-billed hornbill (T. (e.) kempi) is distributed from southern Mauritania through Senegal and Gambia to western Mali.

The Tanzanian red-billed hornbill (T. (e.) ruahae) is restricted to central and western Tanzania.

The southern red-billed hornbill (T. (e.) rufirostris) is found from Angola and Namibia eastwards to Zambia, and thence south to north-eastern South Africa.

The Damara red-billed hornbill (T. (e.) damarensis) is restricted to southern Angola and northern and western Namibia.

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek erythros (‘red’) and rhynkhos (‘bill’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin flavus (‘yellow’) and rostrum (‘bill’).

 

 

 

 

 

The name of this species was given in honour of Sir Frederick John Jackson (1860-1929), an English administrator, explorer, and ornithologist, who lived in Kenya.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and melas (‘black’), thus ‘black and white’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Their habitat is grasslands with short vegetation and scattered trees, in which they nest. They differ mainly in their feeding habit, as they spend most of their time on the ground, searching for prey like lizards, snakes, and larger insects.

The generic name is composed of two other genus names, Buceros (see above), and Corvus (ravens and crows), thus ‘the hornbills that resemble crows’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to Benjamin Leadbeater (1760-1837), an English natural history dealer in London.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They feed mainly on insects and ticks, usually on the skin of large ungulates. It has been observed that in one day a bird may eat more than 100 adult ticks or 13,000 larvae.

However, their preferred food is blood, and they often peck in wounds on animals to make the blood flow, or they may even peck at the skin, making a wound themselves. This behaviour is reflected in the generic name, derived from Ancient Greek bous (‘ox’) and phagos (‘eating’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek bous (‘ox’) and ‘rhinos’ (‘nose’, or, in this connection, ‘bill’), alluding to the large bill of these birds. The name thick-knee refers to the swelling of the leg joint.

 

The specific name refers to the Cape Province.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin vermiculus (‘little worm’), diminutive of vermis (‘worm’). Apparently, German ornithologist Jean Louis Cabanis (1816-1906), who named the bird in 1868, found that the stripes on its body resembled worms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name was given in honour of Scottish naturalist and explorer Andrew Smith (1797-1872) who became the first director of the Cape Town Museum. The second part ornis means ‘bird’ in Ancient Greek.

 

The specific name refers to Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. This is an error, as the bird is not found there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the Latin word for a yellowish bird, mentioned in Biblia Vulgata, a Latin translation of the Bible from the late 4th Century. The word was derived from Ancient Greek kharadrios, a bird found in river valleys, from kharadra (‘ravine’).

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin hiatus (‘cleft’) and cola (‘dweller’), from colere (‘to dwell’). It has the same meaning as the word kharadrios above, thus ‘living in ravines’ – an odd name for this bird, which does not at all live in ravines.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name was given in honour of French botanist and ornithologist Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour (1773-1826), who travelled widely in Java, India, and South America, bringing large collections of plants and birds back to France.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin pallere (‘to be pale’), presumably alluding to the snow-white underside.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘grazier’, derived from pecu (‘cattle’, or ‘flock’). What it refers to is uncertain.

The popular name commemorates Prussian soldier, explorer, and naturalist Friedrich Heinrich Freiherr von Kittlitz (1799-1874), who joined the Russian corvette Senjawin on a circumnavigational expedition 1826-1829 under the leadership of Captain Fyodor Petrovich Litke (1797-1882). On this expedition, von Kittlitz made large collections for the imperial museum in St. Petersburg, including 314 bird species. In 1831, he travelled to North Africa, but had to return to Germany due to poor health. During this trip, he collected specimens of the plover, which now bears his name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin pluvia (‘rain’). An old word said that when golden plovers flocked, it would mean imminent rain.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘tawny’ or ‘yellowish-brown’, referring to the breeding plumage.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is a Latinized version of sgatarola, an old Venetian name for a kind of plover.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, diminutive of vannus (‘winnowing fan’), referring to the whirring sound, produced by the wings of the northern lapwing (V. vanellus) during courtship display.

The common name is derived from Old English hleapewince, of hleapan (‘to leap’) and wince (‘move rapidly’), likewise alluding to the courtship display of the northern lapwing, when the male twists and turns at a tremendous speed over the meadows.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin arma (‘weapons’), thus ‘armed’, alluding to the sharp spur on the wing, which is used when the bird aggressively defends its young, continually diving towards the enemy, targeting its head. The common name refers to the alarm call, a repeated, metallic tink-tink-tink, which has been likened to a blacksmith’s hammer, striking an anvil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin coronare (‘to crown’), like the common name referring to the head pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin crassus (‘thick’ or ‘heavy’) and rostrum (‘bill’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Senegal lapwing lives in savannas with short grass, distributed in a vast area, in West Africa from Senegal eastwards to Chad, southwards to northern Angola, and from eastern Zaire, Uganda, and Kenya southwards to north-eastern South Africa.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘mournful’, derived from lugere (‘to mourn’), presumably alluding to the predominantly grey plumage. The common name probably refers to the type locality.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and kephale (‘head’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and pteron (‘wing’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to Senegal. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin spina (‘thorn’), referring to the spur on the wing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘covered’, in this connection referring to the black cap of the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The word stork originates in Ancient Germanic sturkoz.

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for storks.

 

The name commemorates Bey el-Arnaut Abdim (1780-1827), Turkish governor of Wadi Halfa, Sudan.

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, the similar, but larger and black-billed oriental stork (C. boyciana) of eastern Asia, was regarded as a subspecies of the white stork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek ephippios (‘saddle’) and rhynkhos (‘bill’), alluding to the yellow, saddle-shaped shield on the bill.

It is a close relative of the black-necked stork (E. asiaticus), found in tropical Asia and Australia – the only other member of the genus, which is presented on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in the Indian Subcontinent.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek leptos (‘thin’ or ‘slender’) and ptilon (‘feather’), alluding to the scarcity of feathers on the head of these birds.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin crumena (a purse carried around the neck), naturally referring to the gular sac. The common name is borrowed from French marabout, which was adapted from Portuguese maraboto, which was again derived from Arabic murabit (a soldier stationed in fortified outpost), presumably alluding to the upright stance of this species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek mykterizo (‘to turn up the nose’), from mykter (‘snout’). Presumably, it refers to the large bill of these birds, causing them to raise their ‘nose’.

 

The specific name is a misnomer. In Ancient Greece, the word ibis was applied to the sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) of Egypt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is supposedly derived from Ancient Greek hapalos (‘delicate’ or ‘gentle’). Others have suggested that it refers to an African name of these birds.

 

North-eastern populations, from eastern Ethiopia southwards to north-eastern Tanzania, have recently been upgraded to a separate species, the brown-tailed apalis (A. flavocincta).

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘yellowish’.

 

 

 

 

 

The genus was described by German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup (1803-1873). The generic name is derived from kisthos, the classical Greek word for rockroses (Cistus), and the Latin colere (‘to dwell’). Presumably, Kaup observed the zitting cisticola among shrubs of this genus.

 

The specific name (pronounced ‘la-is’) is a Latin word for warbler. It supposedly refers to either of two courtesans in Ancient Greece, Lais of Corinth (died c. 425 B.C.), or Lais of Hyccara (died 340 B.C.). The former was murdered by jealous wives who feared for the morals and fidelity of their husbands. The connection to this cisticola is obscure.

The common name presumably refers to its call, a drawn-out wheee.

Previously, Lynes’s cisticola (C. distinctus) of eastern Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania was regarded as a subspecies of wailing cisticola.

 

 

 

 

 

According to one source, the name Colius is derived from Ancient Greek koloios (‘jackdaw’), but the relevance is hard to see. Another source suggests that the name is derived from Ancient Greek koleos (‘scabbard’ or ‘sheath’), referring to the long tail of these birds.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and kephale (‘head’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first part of the generic name is derived from Ancient Greek oura (‘tail’). Members of this genus have slightly longer tail than members of Colius. The specific name is also referring to the long tail, derived from Ancient Greek makros (‘long’), and again oura.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘dove’, the feminine form of columbus (‘male dove’), a Latinized version of Ancient Greek kolumbos (‘diver’). This name was applied by Greek comic-writer Aristophanes (c. 446-386 B.C.) to the common rock pigeon (Columba livia), due to the ‘swimming’ motion made by its wings in flight.

 

In 1747, English naturalist George Edwards (1694-1773) included this bird in the second volume of his work A Natural History of Uncommon Birds, describing it as triangular-spotted pigeon (Columba maculis triquetris), referring to the white triangular spots on the wings. His illustration was made from two live birds at the home of the Duke of Richmond in London. Edwards was told that the pigeons had been brought from Guinea, West Africa. Later, when Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition in 1758, he named it Columba guinea, citing Edwards’ work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek oinas (‘pigeon’), ultimately from oimay, according to Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) “a wild pigeon the colour of ripening grapes” (the grape vine was called oimg). The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of the Cape area’, and the popular name refers to Namaqualand, in the Khoikhoi language Nama-kwa, meaning ‘the land of the Nama Khoe people’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek spilos (‘spot’) and peleia (‘dove’), referring to the spots on the neck of the spotted dove.

 

Other names include palm dove and Senegal dove, and in India it is known as little brown dove. The name laughing dove stems from its characteristic cooing, a low, drawn-out croo-doo-doo-doo-doo, somewhat reminiscent of a laughter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek streptos, which literally means ‘twisted’, but in this connection ‘wearing a torque’ (a twisted necklace), alluding to the semi-collar of many members of the genus; and peleia (‘dove’).

Other species, which were formerly placed in this genus, have been moved to the genera Spilopelia (above) and Nesoenas.

 

The first part of the specific name refers to the Cape Colony of South Africa, the second part is derived from the Latin colere (‘to dwell’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin decipere (‘to cheat’, or ‘to deceive’). What it refers to is uncertain. The common name probably alludes to one of its calls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Ancient Greek, meaning ‘shy’ or ‘timid’, a term often used about doves by classical poet Homer (c. 750 B.C.).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘bald’. What it refers to is uncertain.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is the old Abyssinian name of this bird. The common name honours Scottish explorer James Bruce (1730-1794), who travelled in Abyssinia (today Ethiopia) and is credited with the discovery of the source of the Blue Nile.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘turtle dove’, whereas the specific name is Ancient Greek, meaning ‘female drummer’, ultimately from tympanon (‘drum’ or ‘tambourine’), alluding to its call, a repeated du-du-du, slightly reminiscent of the sound from a tambourine.

 

 

 

 

 

The name roller was given in allusion to the aerial acrobatics that some of these birds perform during courtship display.

 

The majority of these birds live in sub-Saharan Africa, with one species in Europe and western Asia, two widespread Asian species, and one species restricted to Sulawesi and surrounding islands.

The generic name is a Latinized form of Ancient Greek korakias (‘crow-like’), from korax (‘raven’). When he named the genus in 1758, Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) presumably regarded rollers as closely related to crows.

 

The specific name refers to Abyssinia, the old name of Ethiopia. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘with a tail’, originally from cauda (‘tail’), in this case alluding to the long tail with two thin protrusions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In later years, it has declined rather drastically in most of its breeding area. Threats include hunting during migration, especially in Oman, where thousands are killed for food. In many places, trees have been removed, giving way to modern agricultural practices, robbing the roller of potential nesting sites and perches for hunting, while pesticides have reduced its food sources.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘chattering’ or ‘noisy’. What it refers to is not clear.

 

 

 

 

 

It is very widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, excepting the West African rainforest belt and extreme southern Africa. Its preferred habitat is dry savanna, and its breeding season varies from place to place, possibly linked to recent rains.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘spotted’ or ‘marked’, alluding to the streaked breast.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek eurys (‘broad’, or ‘wide’) and stoma (‘mouth’). The strange name dollarbird refers to the distinctive pale blue or white, coin-shaped spots on the wings of the oriental broad-billed roller.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek glaukos (‘blue-grey’) and oura (‘tail’). The bird is mainly reddish-brown, but the undertail coverts are blue-grey, or, to be more precise, turquoise.

 

 

 

 

 

A large number of species are described on the page Animals – Birds: Corvids.

 

The generic name is the classical Latin name of the common raven (C. corax).

Previously, jackdaws were also placed in this genus. Following genetic research, they have been moved to a separate genus, Coloeus.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin albus (‘white’) and collum (‘neck’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This bird is the largest of all passerines, to 70 cm long and weighing up to 1.5 kg. Its very large bill, to 9 cm long, which is laterally compressed and curved, is black with a white tip. The plumage is blackish with brownish neck and wings, and a large white patch on the nape.

It resembles the smaller white-necked raven (above), but its bill is much heavier, and the white patch is on the nape, not on the lower hind neck.

The specific name is derived from the Latin crassus (‘thick’ or ‘heavy’) and rostrum (‘bill’).

 

 

 

 

 

It is native from Syria and Jordan southwards through the entire Arabian Peninsula, and in north-eastern Africa, from the Nile valley southwards to South Sudan and Kenya, westwards to the Aïr Massif in Niger. It lives in deserts and other dry country, placing its nest in craggy areas.

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek rhipis (‘fan’) and oura (‘tail’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has a very restricted distribution area, being confined to thorn acacia country in southern Ethiopia, near the town of Yabello. It usually feeds in small groups, eating mainly insects.

The generic name commemorates Italian zoologist Edoardo Zavattari (1883-1972) who was director of zoology at the Sapienza University in Rome 1935-1953. He supported fascism and anti-semitism on the basis of his ideas from biology, and he was among those who signed the Manifesto della razza, a racial manifesto from 1938, which lead to the anti-semitic laws in the Kingdom of Italy, stripping the Jews of Italian citizenship and governmental and professional positions.

The specific name was given in honour of German naturalist and ornithologist Erwin Friedrich Theodor Stresemann (1889-1972), who contributed to a later edition of the work Handbuch der Zoologie (first published 1863-1875), and was the editor of the Journal für Ornithologie. He also took an interest in poetry, philosophy, and linguistics, publishing a monograph on the Austronesian Paulohi language, based on studies made during his ornithological expedition to the Indonesian island Seram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kentron (‘spur’, or ‘spike’) and pous (‘foot’), alluding to the spur of these birds.

 

This species lives in wetlands, especially growths of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus), from northern Angola, southern Zaire, and Tanzania southwards to north-eastern Namibia, Botswana, and Malawi.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to Claes Grill (1705-1767), a Swedish merchant who was director of the Swedish East India Company. He had a private collection of animals.

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, birds in southern Africa were included in this species, but they differ by having an unstreaked underside and no eyebrow. They now form a separate species, named Burchell’s coucal (C. burchellii).

The specific name is derived from the Latin supercilium (‘eyebrow’), thus ‘having an eyebrow’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kerkos (‘tail’) and kokkyx, the classical Greek word for cuckoo. These birds have a long tail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin clamare (‘to shout’), alluding to the loud mating call of the type species of the genus, the great spotted cuckoo (C. glandarius).

 

According to the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Book 12, the Jacobin cuckoo is associated with a mythological bird, known as the chataka, which had a beak on its head and was waiting for rain to quench its thirst.

The specific and English names refer to the plumage, which resembles the black and white garments of Dominican monks, who, in French, were known as Jacobins.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek dikros (‘forked’) and oura (‘tail’), referring to the forked tail of the majority of these birds.

In Australia, the common name is slang for foolish or stupid people. It stems back from the 1920s, when an Australian racehorse, which was apparently named after the bird, never won a race during its active 5 years, and the word was transferred to any slow-witted or clumsy person. This can by no means apply to the clever and agile drongos!

 

The specific name is a form of the Latin assimilis (‘similar to’). When German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein (1757-1822) described the bird in 1794, he found that it had the form of the jackdaw (Coloeus monedula).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name was given in honour of German pharmacist and businessman Carl Ferdinand Heinrich von Ludwig (1784-1847), later Baron von Ludwig, who collected plants in South Africa between 1805 and 1847 and was behind the establishment of Cape Town’s first botanical garden.

 

 

 

 

 

These birds are characterized by having tubular nasal passages on the upper mandible, to which a gland is attached. When feeding, they invariably swallow a lot of sea water, and surplus salt in their bodies is excreted through this gland.

The family name was applied by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), alluding to Greek mythology, where the companions of the warrior Diomedes were transformed into birds.

The name albatross is derived from the Arabic al-qadus (‘the diver’), a name applied to pelicans. In Portuguese this word became alcatraz, but applied to gannets or frigatebirds. According to W. Tickell, in his book Albatrosses (Pica Press, 2000), the modification to albatross may have been influenced by the Latin albus (‘white’), alluding to the mainly white plumage of albatrosses, in contrast to the mainly black plumage of frigatebirds.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek thalassa (‘sea’) and arkhe (‘in power’ or ‘in command’), alluding to the superior flying style of these birds.

The word mollymawk, from the late 17th Century, is derived from the Dutch mallemok, from mal (‘foolish’) and mok (‘gull’). This term was originally applied to the fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), which was formerly killed for food. People found it very stupid, as it was confiding and thus easy to kill on the nest.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black) and ophrys (‘eyebrow’), like the common name referring to the dark feathers around the eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

It was named for English naturalist Osbert Salvin (1835-1898) who, together with Frederick DuCane Godman (1834-1919), compiled a 52 volume encyclopedia on the natural history of Central America, entitled Biologia Centrali-Americana (1879-1915).

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is unique among waders, nesting in burrows in sandy areas and making use of the ground heat to aid incubation of the eggs. In winter, it disperses across the Indian Ocean, eastwards to the Andaman Islands and the coast of Cambodia, and along East African coasts as far south as northern South Africa and Madagascar.

Tanzania constitutes a core area for this species in winter. During an expedition in 1988 (see page Travel episodes – Tanzania 1988: Experiencing African bureaucracy), we counted about 5,400 crab plovers along the Tanzanian coast.

The generic name is Greek, meaning ‘running’. The bird is often seen running fast before taking off. The specific name is composed of the classical Latin word for heron, ardea, and ola, a suffix denoting something diminutive, thus ‘small heron’, perhaps alluding to the long legs of this species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Old German name of these birds, Embritz. The origin of the English name is unknown.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘bluish-grey’. The common name commemorates German physician and scientist Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar (1786-1845) who founded the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin flavus (‘yellow’) and venter (‘belly’).

 

 

 

 

 

As its name implies, the house bunting lives near human settlements, and also in plantations and gardens. It often becomes very tame.

The specific name refers to the Sahara Desert.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Tswana word thagapitse (‘zebra bird’), used for various stripe-headed finches, buntings, and weavers.

 

 

 

 

 

A large number of these birds are in the pet trade, and many of them have escaped to form feral populations.

 

The generic name was introduced in 1827 by English naturalist William John Swainson (1789-1855), with the cut-throat finch (A. fasciata) – so named due to the red marking on its throat – as the type species. Swainson thought that the cut-throat finch formed a link between estrildids and Ammodramus, a genus of American sparrows, so he created the name Amadina, a corrupted diminutive of Ammodramus.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek erythros (‘red’) and kephale (‘head’), alluding to the red head of the male.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek hypo (‘under’) and Argos Panoptes, a many-eyed giant in Greek mythology, Panoptes meaning ‘all-seeing’. He was a guardian of the nymph Io who was one of Zeus’s many mistresses. Zeus transformed her to a heifer to hide his infidelity from his wife Hera. The name alludes to the numerous white spots on the underside of these birds, the spots often coming in pairs.

 

This bird is also known as Peters’s twinspot, described in 1868 by German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Karl Hartwig Peters (1815-1883) who travelled extensively in southern Africa 1842-1848. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens, which he then described in Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique… in den Jahren 1842 bis 1848, ausgeführt (1852-1882), dealing with mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, insects, and plants.

The specific name is derived from the Latin niveus (‘snow-white’) and gutta (‘drop’), of course alluding to the spotted underside.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name refers to Mandingo, a people of the Niger Valley. Presumably, the type specimen was collected in this area. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘relatively brilliant’, derived from nitidus (‘beautiful’ or ‘brilliant’). To me, this derogation is quite puzzling. The bird is really very beautiful!

The common name alludes to the spotted underside of the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek sperma (‘seed’) and phagos (‘eating’), thus ‘seed-eaters’.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin rufus (‘red’ or ‘ruddy’) and capillus (‘capped’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek oura (‘tail’) and aiginthos, the name of an unknown bird, perhaps a finch. The common name cordon-bleu is French, meaning ‘blue ribbon’, once signifying the highest order of chivalry in the reign of the Bourbon kings. These birds are blue, but otherwise the connection is hard to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name was applied in 1760 by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson (1723-1806), as he mistakenly believed that the type specimen had been collected in Bengal.

 

 

 

 

 

Genetic research has shown that these birds are not closely related to raptors of the family Accipitridae. Their similar feeding habits are an example of convergent evolution.

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin falx, or falcis (‘sickle’), referring to the talons.

From earliest times, the falcon was worshipped in Egypt as a deity, whose body represents the heavens, whereas the eyes represent the sun and the moon. Horus, the son of the supreme gods Osiris and Isis, is depicted as a falcon, or a man with falcon-head, wearing the Double Crown of Egypt, a crown with a cobra, or a crown shaped as a sun disc.

Osiris’s brother Seth was a grim fellow, who killed his brother and spread his parts all over Egypt. When reaching adulthood, Horus revenged his father, killing Seth. The ferocious battle between the two is depicted in many Egyptian temples, Seth often in the shape of a hippo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name takes some explanation. When Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858) named the bird in 1825, he called it Faucon biarmique, thinking that this would mean ‘with two beards’, alluding to the ‘moustache’ on the cheek of this species. However, this was a wrong presumption. He ‘borrowed’ the epithet from Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) who introduced it when he, erroneously, named the bearded tit Parus biarmicus after Biarmia, an old Latin name for the district of Perm in northern Russia. As the bearded tit does not occur in this area, it is speculated that Linnaeus was in reality confusing the bearded tit with the long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus), which is common in the Perm area.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to German artist and ornithologist Johann Friedrich Naumann (1780-1857), who published many ornithological works, including Naturgeschichte der Vögel Mitteleuropas (1820-1844).

 

 

 

 

 

The name Falco peregrinus (‘the wandering falcon’) was already used in 1225 by German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop Albertus Magnus (c. 1200-1280). The name refers to the fact that falconers caught juvenile birds on migration, rather than taking them from the nests, which were difficult to get at.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to the name of the rock kestrel, Falco rupicolus, from the Latin rupis (‘rock’) and colere (‘to dwell’); and oides (‘resembling’), thus ‘resembling the rock kestrel’.

 

 

 

 

 

Adult African pygmy-falcons are white below and on the face, the male is grey above, whereas females have a chestnut back. The species is distributed in two separate areas, from Ethiopia southwards to northern Tanzania, and from south-western Angola southwards to northern South Africa and south-western Botswana.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek polios (‘grey’) and hierax (‘hawk’), the specific name from the Latin semi (‘half’) and torques (‘collar’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized version of Ancient Greek bukanetes (‘trumpeter’), alluding to the call of the trumpeter finch (below).

 

The specific name refers to the corn-cockle (Agrostemma githago). The connection is obscure.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek krithe (‘barley’) and agra (‘hunting’).

 

The specific name refers to the citril finch (Carduelis citrinella), coined with Ancient Greek suffix oides (‘resembling’), thus ‘resembling the citril finch’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is an adaptation of the French word for the canary, serin, maybe a corruption of the Latin citrinus, meaning ‘lemon-coloured’.

 

The name of this species is explained above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin currere (‘to run’). These birds often prefer to run instead of flying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name commemorates Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858), who was the first director of the National Museum of Natural History in Leiden, from 1820 until his death.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a diminutive of the Latin glarea (‘gravel’), thus ‘the one found in small gravel’, alluding to the preferred nesting place of these birds.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin pratum (‘meadow’) and incolere (‘to inhabit’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek rhis (‘nostrils’) and ptilon (‘feather’), alluding to the feathered nostrils of the double-banded courser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘banded’, from cingere (‘to encircle’).

 

 

 

 

 

The English name stems from Old Saxon krano, meaning ‘a hoarse call’.

Various species are described on the pages Animals – Birds: Birds in the Indian Subcontinent, and Birds in the United States and Canada.

 

The generic name refers to the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean. It is derived from grui Balearicae (‘the Balearic crane’), mentioned by Roman philosopher and naturalist Pliny the Elder (c. 23-79 A.D.). It is not known to which species Pliny referred, or even if it was a type of crane, although the demoiselle crane (Grus virgo) formerly occurred in Spain, and still migrates through the Nile Valley. (Source: Jobling 2010)

 

It lives in savanna and river valleys, and also sometimes in agricultural land, provided there are accessible wetlands. Traditionally, some tribes have regarded this bird as sacred, and in many places it has adapted to living near people. It is mainly sedentary, but moves around in search of areas with recent precipitation. It often spends the night in trees.

During the last 50 years or so, this species has declined drastically, and the total population may now be as low as 25-30,000, with two thirds of this number in East Africa. The decline is caused by draining, conversion of savanna to agricultural lands, and lack of flooding due to construction of dams. East African populations are classified as near-threatened, whereas the South African population is stable.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘royal’, derived from regis (‘king’), of course alluding to the prominent crest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is onomatopoetic, referring to the loud trumpeting of cranes.

 

The wattled crane is almost exclusively found in wetlands, being most numerous in the vast wetlands along rivers in Zambia and Botswana. It is resident, but moves about to areas with recent rainfall. Outside the breeding season, Ethiopian birds may be encountered in grasslands. This species usually lays only one egg and has a very slow reproduction rate. It doesn’t breed every year, only when ample rain has fallen. For this reason, dams have a huge negative effect on its reproduction.

The total population may be as low as 8.000-9.000 individuals, and almost everywhere it is steadily declining due to draining, dam construction, fires, and human settlement around wetlands. In South Africa, it has almost disappeared.

The specific name is derived from the Latin caruncula (‘a small piece of flesh’), diminutive of carnis (‘flesh’), alluding to the red wattles under the bill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formerly, the blue crane was common, but declined drastically in the period 1980-2000, mostly due to persecution with poison, as it was regarded as a pest in crops; also due to cultivation of new grasslands, urban development, and collision with wires. An information campaign has caused the population to increase slightly, today numbering about 25.000 individuals. Previously, the isolated population in Etosha National Park comprised about 150 birds, but is now declining drastically. In 2015, only about 35 birds remained.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek haima (‘blood’) and pous (‘foot’), alluding to the bright red feet of the Eurasian oystercatcher. The old English name of these birds was sea-pie (‘the pied one living at the sea’). They got their present name in 1731 by English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749) who studied flora and fauna in the New World. He noticed that the American species H. palliatus ate oysters.

 

The specific name was given in honour of French naturalist Alfred Moquin-Tandon (1804-1863) who was initially professor of zoology in Marseille, later professor of botany and director of the botanical gardens at Toulouse, and from 1853 director of the botanical garden and the scientific academy in Paris.

 

 

 

 

 

In Europe, the term swallow is mainly used for species with forked tails, martin mainly for species with squarish tails. In America, however, the term martin is reserved for members of the genus Progne.

 

The genus may be named for Kekropia, a mythical king of Athens. Jobling (2010) mentions Kekropis, a woman from Athens, without further explanation.

 

The specific name refers to Abyssinia, an older name for Ethiopia.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘hooded’, alluding to the chestnut cap.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin name of these birds.

 

The specific name refers to the area, where the bird is living, and the common name alludes to the mainly white tail.

 

 

 

 

 

The underside is almost snow-white, the upperparts dark blue, and the cap is chestnut. The female has shorter ‘wires’ on the tail than the male.

The specific name commemorates Norwegian physician, botanist, and geologist Christen Smith (1785-1816). He participated in an expedition to the Canary Islands and Madeira, collecting more than 600 species of plants, of which about 50 were new to science. Later, he joined a scientific expedition, the aim of which was to travel up the Congo River to determine whether it had any connection to the Niger basins further west. The expedition ship HMS Congo was so heavy that it could only negotiate the lower part of the river, and the lighter vessel Dorothy was stopped by rapids 160 km inland. The expedition members continued on foot along the river, but lack of food, hostile natives, and disease soon took their toll, and the expedition members had to turn back. Altogether, 18 of the 56 participants perished, including Smith.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek ptyon (‘a fan’), alluding to the shape of the spread-out tail. The second part of the name refers to Prokne, a woman in Greek mythology. She was the wife of King Tereus of Thrace and the mother of a boy, Itys. Once, when Prokne’s beautiful sister Philomela visited the couple, she was raped by Tereus, who tore out her tongue to prevent her revealing the crime. However, she wove a tapestry, revealing what had been done, and the two women decided to take revenge. Prokne killed Itys, boiled him, and served him as a meal to her husband. After the meal, they presented Tereus with the severed head of his son. He got hold of an axe, pursuing the sisters in order to kill them. In their desperation, they prayed to the gods to allow them to escape Tereus, and the gods transformed Prokne into a swallow and Philomela into a nightingale.

 

Previously, this bird was considered being conspecific with two other members of the genus, the pale crag martin (P. obsoleta), which lives in northern Africa, and the dusky crag martin (P. concolor) of southern Asia. However, most authorities now regard the latter two as distinct species.

The specific name is derived from the Latin fuligo (‘soot’) and gula (‘throat’), thus ‘sooty-throated’.

 

 

 

 

 

Jacana was the spelling that Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) used when he named the wattled jacana Parra jacana in 1766 (today Jacana jacana). The original Portuguese spelling was jaçana (pronounced approximately zasana), which was derived from a local Tupi name of the bird, ñahana.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek akte (‘river bank’ or ‘coast’), philos (‘loving’, from phileo ‘to love’), and ornis (‘bird’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, the family was much larger, encompassing bushshrikes, puffbacks, tchagras, boubous, and helmetshrikes. However, genetic research has shown that these groups are not closely related to shrikes. As a consequence, bushshrikes, puffbacks, tchagras, and boubous have been moved to the family Malaconotidae (below), helmetshrikes to the family Vangidae.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek eurus (‘broad’) and kephale (‘head’).

 

The specific name commemorates German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (1794-1884), who collected numerous specimens of plants and animals in Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin lanio (‘butcher’), derived from laniare (‘tearing to pieces’). Shrikes were formerly known as ‘butcher-birds’, referring to their habit of storing prey by impaling it on thorns and sharp twigs, thus resembling a butcher’s slaughterhouse. The name shrike stems from Old English scric, alluding to their call.

Some African species are known as fiscal shrikes, derived from Afrikaans fiskaal (a public official, especially a hangman), likewise alluding to their food-storing habit.

 

The specific name honours German ornithologist Jean Louis Cabanis (1816-1906), founding editor of Journal für Ornithologie (1853).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin dorsum (‘back’), presumably alluding to the grey back of this species. The common name refers to the Taita Hills in Kenya. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is composed of excubitor, the specific name of the great grey shrike, and Ancient Greek oides (‘resembling’). The epithet excubitor means ‘sentinel’, derived from the Latin excubare (‘to keep watch’). According to Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), the great grey shrike watches for the approach of hawks, and warns other small birds through its alarm call.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was previously lumped with the southern fiscal (L. collaris), under the name common fiscal. Male and female are alike, except for the tawny flanks of the female.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of the shoulders’, from umerus (‘shoulders’), presumably alluding to the large white spot on the wings.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name means ‘pied’, derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and leukos (‘white’). The common name refers to the pied plumage and the long tail, reminiscent of a magpie (Pica pica).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific and common names refer to the smaller size of this bird, compared to the great grey shrike (L. excubitor) of the Northern Hemisphere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Ancient Greek, meaning ‘stupid’ or ‘foolish’. In the old days, sailors often killed these birds for food, and they found them very stupid, as they were confiding and thus easy to kill.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘stupid’ or ‘foolish’ (see above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek khelidonios (‘swallow-like’), from khelidon (‘swallow’), referring to the elegant flight style of these terns.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and pteron (‘wing’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek khroizo (‘to colour’) and kephale (‘head’), alluding to the dark head of many of the species in the breeding season.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin cirrhus (‘grey’), and Ancient Greek kephale (‘head’). The original meaning of kirrhos in classical Greek is ‘tawny’. It seems that at some point it was changed to mean ‘grey’ in Latin.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name commemorates Italian naturalist Giuseppe Gené (1800-1847), professor of zoology and director of the Royal Zoological Museum at Turin.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific and common names commemorate German physician and ornithologist Karel Johan Gustav Hartlaub (1814-1900), one of the founders of Journal für Ornithologie, in 1852.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin ridere (‘to laugh’), referring to one of its calls, ke-ke-ke, mostly heard in the breeding colonies. Its common name is somewhat erroneous, as the head (in the breeding plumage) is not black, but a dark chocolate brown.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek gelao (‘to laugh’) and khelidon (‘swallow’), alluding to its call and its elegant flight style. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of the Nile’, presumably the type locality.

Previously, the Australian gull-billed tern (G. macrotarsa) was considered a subspecies of the common gull-billed tern, but is today regarded as a separate species.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name stems from German naturalist and explorer Peter Simon Pallas (1741-1811). During his travels in Siberia and Kyrgyzstan in 1773, he collected a large gull, naming it Larus ichthyaetus, the specific name derived from Ancient Greek ikhthys (‘fish’) and aetos (‘eagle’). Thus, loosely translated, the name means ‘the gull that resembles a fish-eagle’, presumably alluding to its large size. Today, this gull is named Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus (see below).

Thus the generic name means ‘fish-eagle’ – a very unfortunate name for a group of gulls!

 

The specific name was given in honour of German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich (1796-1825), who travelled extensively in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. He died of malaria in Ethiopia, only 29 years old.

 

 

 

 

 

As explained above under the genus name, Pallas originally named this gull Larus ichthyaetus, which loosely translates as ‘the gull that resembles a fish-eagle’. However, after being placed in this genus, its name means ‘fish-eagle – fish-eagle’ – a ridiculous name for a gull!

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and ophthalmos (‘eye’), referring to the white spots above and below the eye.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of Ancient Greek laros, pertaining to a kind of ravenous sea bird, presumably a gull.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin cachinnare (‘to laugh aloud’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name was applied in reference to the Dominican Order of friars, who wear black and white robes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek onyx (‘claw’ or ‘nail’) and prion (‘saw’). Presumably, these birds have sharp claws. The common name is derived from the Old Norse term for these birds, therna, presumably brought to the British Isles by Vikings.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘dark’.

 

 

 

 

 

Friedrich Boie described many new species and several new genera of birds. He and his brother Heinrich also described about 50 new species of reptiles.

The generic name is Ancient Greek, meaning ‘fisherman’, ultimately from thalassa (‘sea’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of Bengal’, the type locality. In the old days, the term Bengal denoted an area that covered much of northern India and Bangladesh.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name commemorates Prussian naturalist and pharmacist Karl Heinrich Bergius (1790-1818), a cavalryman in the Prussian campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. He subsequently studied pharmacy in Berlin where his botanical interests were noted by Martin Lichtenstein (1780-1857) at the Berlin Zoological Museum, who sent him to Cape Town, South Africa, to work as an assistant pharmacist, and to make collections for the Berlin Museum. However, after only two years, he died of pulmonary tuberculosis.

 

 

 

 

 

It was first collected by English ornithologist John Latham (1740-1837) at Sandwich, Kent, southern England, hence its specific and common names.

Previously, a similar bird in North America was considered a subspecies of the sandwich tern, but is today regarded as a separate species, Cabot’s tern (T. acuflavidus).

 

 

 

 

 

African barbets, comprising about 43 species, live in forests and shrubberies in the entire sub-Saharan Africa, except the south-western corner. They are divided into arboreal barbets, subfamily Lybiinae, with about 37 species in 6 genera, and terrestrial barbets, Trachyphoninae, with a single genus.

The name barbet is derived from French barbe (‘beard’ or ‘long hair of certain animals’), alluding to the bristles around the bill of these birds.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek staktos (‘trickling’ or ‘dropping’) and laimos (‘throat’). What it refers to is not clear.

 

Subspecies olivacea lives from coastal Kenya to uplands of central Tanzania, uluguruensis in the Uluguru Mountains of eastern Tanzania, howelli in the East Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania, rungweensis from the Rungwe and Poroto Mountains in Tanzania to the Misuku Hills, northern Malawi, hylophona in the Rondo, Ngarama, and Mitundumbea Forest Reserves of coastal Tanzania, belcheri on Mt. Thyolo in Malawi and Mt. Namuli in Mozambique, and finally woodwardi in the Ngoye Forest, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

It is often disputed among taxonomists, whether several of the subspecies merit specific status. Subspecies hylophona is sometimes merged with woodwardi, called Woodward’s barbet. They both differ from the other subspecies by having yellow ear coverts. Subspecies belcheri, which is endemic to two isolated inselbergs, may also constitute a separate species.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘olive-green’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek trakhys (‘rough’) and phone (‘voice’ or ‘sound’).

 

The specific name commemorates French geographer and naturalist Théodore Louis Joseph-Pons d’Arnaud (1811-1884) who undertook several expeditions in the Sudan, Ethiopia, and Yemen.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek erythros (‘red’) and kephale (‘head’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek makros (‘long’) and sphenos (‘wedge’), in reference to the shape of the bill of these birds.

 

The specific and common names refer to German ornithologist Eugen Franz Kretschmer (1868-1894), who collected birds in Kenya. However, he and his companions were killed by locals shortly after the beginning of an expedition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Lanius, the name of true shrikes, given due to the similarity of some of the species to shrikes.

The name boubou is from the Malinke word bubu, which may be an imitation of the duet call of the tropical boubou (below). The name gonolek is supposedly an imitation of the call of the crimson-breasted gonolek (below).

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin ater (‘black’) and coccineus (‘scarlet’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek erythros (‘red’) and gaster (‘belly’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘rusty-coloured’, from ferrugo (‘iron rust’), alluding to the colour of the underside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name was taken from the specific name of the southern tchagra (T. tchagra), originally named Thamnophilus tchagra by French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot (1748-1830). Presumably it stems from a local bird name.

Today, the genus name Thamnophilus refers to antshrikes, a group of birds in the Neotropics.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘southern’.

 

 

 

 

 

Presumably, the generic name is a spelling mistake for Telophonus (synonym of Tchagra), which is derived from Ancient Greek telos (‘perfect’) and phone (‘voice’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘green’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Greek name of the European bee-eater (M. apiaster). Originally it meant ‘endowed with speech’, used in poetry to describe articulated people who ‘divided voices’, from meros (‘portion’) and ops (‘voice’).

 

The specific name is from the Latin albus (‘white’) and collum (‘neck’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name commemorates German zoologist and explorer Richard Böhm (1854-1884) who collected numerous animal species in eastern Africa. He died of malaria, only 29 years old.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is composed of the specific name of the red-throated bee-eater (Merops bulocki), and Ancient Greek oides (‘resembling’), thus ‘resembling the red-throated bee-eater’. The name of that species is a misspelling of the name of English naturalist, collector, and archaeologist William Bullock (1775-1849).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name means ‘Nubian’, from the Arabic an-Nuba, the name of a region along the Nile, from the confluence of the Blue and White Niles at Khartoum northwards to the first cataract of the Nile, just south of Aswan, southern Egypt. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘Persian’.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘very small’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek trokhos (‘circular’ or ’round’) and kerkos (‘tail’).

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek kyanos (‘dark-blue’) and melas (‘black’), referring to the bluish sheen in the black plumage of the male.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek makros (‘long’) and onyx (‘claw’), alluding to the long hindclaw of these birds, probably an adaptation to aid walking on grass.

 

The specific name was applied by French explorer Marquis Léonce de Tarragon (1813-1897) who described this bird in 1845, honouring his mother Amélie Goislard de Villebresme Marquise de Tarragon. The marquis had a huge collection of about 3,000 stuffed birds from around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘saffron-coloured’ or ‘golden’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin name of the white wagtail (M. alba). It is derived from motare (‘to move’ or ‘to shake’), and the diminutive suffix illa, thus ‘the little shaker’, alluding to the tail of the white wagtail always bobbing up and down. However, some time during the Middle Ages the erroneous belief arose that cilla meant ‘tail’.

 

The specific name is the Namaqua name of the bird, a-guimp (‘shore-runner’).

 

 

 

 

 

The family name is derived from the Latin musca (‘a fly’) and capere (‘to catch’).

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kerkos (‘tail’) and trikhas (‘thrush’), alluding to the long tail.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and ophrys (‘eyebrow’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is the Tswana name of the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘four-striped’, referring to the four black stripes on the head, one on the crown, one through the eye, and two moustachial stripes.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kossyphos, which was the classical Greek name of the blackbird (Turdus merula), but also meaning ‘thrush’ in general.

 

In a zoological context, the specific name merely means ‘of South Africa’. Strictly speaking, it originates from the Arabic kafir (‘unbeliever’ or ‘infidel’), implying people who did not ‘admit’ (to the blessings of God), i.e. non-Muslims. Later, the term was mainly used for Christians, but in East Africa also for pagan black Africans. In the 1700s, English missionaries in South Africa adopted the word as an equivalent of ‘heathen’, referring to non-Christian black Africans. In the 1900s, it changed meaning, becoming a derogatory term for black Africans in general. (Source: etymonline.com/word/kaffir)

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name commemorates German explorer and naturalist Martin Theodor von Heuglin (1824-1876), who travelled extensively in Sudan, Abyssinia, and Somaliland.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name alludes to the KwaZulu-Natal Province in south-eastern South Africa. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘halfway rufous’ – a strange name for this colourful bird. The common name was given in honour of German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (1794-1884), who collected numerous specimens of plants and animals in Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for nightingales, probably derived from luscus (‘half-blind’), presumably in the meaning ‘well hidden’, alluding to the crepuscular habits of these birds, and cano (‘to sing’). Hence, it could be translated as ‘the little-seen songster’.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘Swedish’. Olof Rudbeck the Younger (1660-1740), Swedish naturalist and linguist, professor of medicine, and principal of the university of Uppsala, was a pioneer of botany and ornithology. He collected the bluethroat in Lapland in 1695. To him, the colours of the male resembled those of the Swedish flag (which is today blue with a yellow cross, but in those days the yellow had a more orange hue), and he named it Avis Carolina in honour of the Swedish king Carl XI.

However, by 1758, when Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) renamed the bird, the absolute power of the monarchy had been abolished, and Linnaeus, who normally followed his mentor Rudbeck closely, had strong links with the political party Hattarna (so named due to the hats the members wore). For this reason, he probably considered Svecica to be more politically correct than Carolina.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek myrmex (‘ant’) and kikhle (‘thrush’), like the common name alluding to these birds eating ants, termites, and other insects.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek aithos (‘burnt’) and ops (‘face’ or ‘appearance’), referring to the sooty colour of the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘black’.

 

 

 

 

 

These birds are widely distributed in Europe, Asia, and Africa, with a single species, the northern wheatear (O. oenanthe), also breeding in Greenland and eastern Canada, and in Alaska and western Canada.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek oenos ‘wine’ and anthos (‘flower’), alluding to the northern wheatear returning from Africa to Greece in spring, when the grapevines blossom.

The common name is an old folk name of the northern wheatear, meaning ‘white arse’, referring to the conspicuous white rump of the bird.

 

The specific name refers to Italian physician, traveller, naturalist, and archaeologist Paolo Emilio Botta (1802-1870), who was a diplomat in Egypt, Arabia, and Persia 1830-1846.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek halos (‘salt’) and phileo (‘to love’), whereas the common name is derived from Arabic magrib, literally meaning ‘where the sun sets’, but generally referring to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and western Libya.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and pyge (‘rump’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘capped’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek phoinix (‘crimson’) and oura (‘tail’), like the English name referring to the red tail of these birds. Start is an old word for tail.

 

The male is unmistakable, with a bold white head stripe from the forehead to the nape, black cheeks and wings, orange throat and underparts, and a white wing patch. The female has brownish upperparts and pale orange underside.

It was named in honour of French amateur naturalist Jean Baptiste Moussier (1795-1850), who served as an army surgeon in North Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, this species was placed in the genus Cercomela, but, following genetic studies, it has been moved to a separate genus, of which it is the only member.

Its uniformly brown plumage is reflected in both scientific names. The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek pinaros (‘dirty’) and khroas (‘coloured’), whereas the specific name is Latin, meaning ‘shabby’ or ‘dirty’. Not very flattering names for this nice little bird!

 

 

 

 

 

This species, the only member of the genus, lives in montane forests, from eastern Zaire and Kenya southwards through eastern Africa to southern South Africa. In Tanzania and South Africa, it may also be encountered in coastal forests.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek pogon (‘beard’) and kikhle (‘thrush’). It is claimed that the first part refers to the white spots, which is most odd, as they certainly do not form a beard-like pattern. The specific name, however, clearly refers to the spots, derived from the Latin stella (‘star’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin saxum (‘rock’) and incola (‘dwelling among’), alluding to the preferred habitat of the type species, S. torquatus, which has since been divided into 5 species.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘collared’. The subspecific name was given in honour of German naturalist Alfred Voeltzkow (1860-1947), who travelled extensively in eastern Africa and Madagascar, and on the Comoro Islands, Juan de Nova, and Aldabra. These expeditions were related in two books, Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Reisen in Madagascar und Ost-Africa in den Jahren 1889-1895, and Reise in Ostafrika in den Jahren 1903-1905.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name was given in honour of British farmer Peter A. Sheppard (1875-1958), a settler in Rhodesia and Mozambique. He collected birds for the South African ornithologist Alwin Karl Haagner (1880-1962), who described the east coast akalat (below) in 1909.

The name akalat is of West African origin, used by the Fang and Bulu peoples for members of the genus Illadopsis. However, by mistake, the name was applied to members of Sheppardia in the work The Birds of Kenya Colony and the Uganda Protectorate, by Frederick John Jackson (1860-1929), compiled and edited in 1938 by William Lutley Sclater (1863-1944).

 

The specific name honours Dutch physician Jan Willem Boudewijn Gunning (1860-1913), director of the Staatsmuseum (Museum of Natural History) in Pretoria, and also of the Pretoria Zoological Gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

The family name is derived from the Latin musa, a corruption of mauz, the Arabic word for banana; and Ancient Greek phagein (‘to eat’), thus ‘banana-eaters’ or ‘plantain-eaters’.

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin crinis (‘plume’) and fer (‘bearing’), alluding to the crest of the grey go-away-bird (below).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of a uniform colour’, referring to its uniform grey plumage.

 

 

 

 

 

With their downward-curved bills, these colourful birds are adapted to feed on nectar (hence the name of the family), but they also eat fruit, insects, and spiders. Although they resemble the hummingbirds of the Americas, these two groups are entirely unrelated, the resemblance being an example of convergent evolution.

Africa holds a bewildering array of sunbirds, and a large number of species are also found from the Middle East across the Indian Subcontinent to Indochina, southern China, Indonesia, New Guinea, and northern Australia.

In general, males are much more colourful than the females, and they often also have longer tails. Outside the breeding season, males of many species moult into a much duller eclipse plumage.

 

The generic name alludes to a small bird, mentioned by Greek grammarian Hesychius of Alexandria (5th or 6th Century A.D.) in his work Lexicon.

 

It is common in forest, shrubberies, gardens, and fynbos (Africaans for ‘fine bush’ – a habitat with low vegetation and scattered bushes), distributed from southern Nambia and southern Zimbabwe southwards to the Cape province.

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek khalyps (‘steel’), presumably alluding to the dark-blue sheen on crown and back of the male from certain angles.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kyanos (‘dark-blue’) and mitra (‘head-band’ or ‘diadem’), referring to the dark-blue head of subspecies cyanocephala of the green-headed sunbird (C. verticalis), which was originally described as a separate species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek hedydeipnos, meaning ‘sweet-eating’, referring to these birds feeding on nectar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek nektar, the drink of the gods.

 

The total length of the male is about 25 cm, including the very long central tail feathers, whereas the female, which lacks the long tail feathers, is about 15 cm long. The long bill is an adaptation to feeding in flowers with long corolla tubes.

This bird is found from Ethiopia southwards through eastern Africa to the southern tip of South Africa. It is restricted to high elevations, except in South Africa, where it occurs down to sea level. Its habitats include moorland, various types of grassland, shrubberies, plantations, and gardens, and in South Africa it is partial to fynbos (Africaans for ‘fine bush’ – a habitat with low vegetation and scattered bushes).

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘famous’ or ‘renowned’. What it refers to is not clear.

 

 

 

 

 

This bird lives at high altitudes in East African montane moorlands and forests, in eastern Zaire, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, eastern Zambia, and Malawi, usually at elevations between 3,000 and 4,500 m. The majority of the birds feed in flowers of giant lobelias, eating nectar as well as insects. At lower altitudes it feeds in other plants, including members of the genus Protea.

At night, it enters into a torpor, lowering its heartbeat and body temperature to conserve energy.

The specific name commemorates British explorer, botanist, artist, and administrator Harry Hamilton Johnston (1858-1927), who travelled extensively in tropical Africa 1882-1884.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The largely naked head and long neck, with wrinkled skin and a few tufts of down, very much resembles the head of certain vultures, hence its specific and common names.

The generic name is a diminutive of the Ancient Greek akra (‘tip’ or ‘pointed’), alluding to the long, pointed, black-and-white or blue feathers on the breast, and also to the long, pointed tail, which almost touches the ground, when the bird is walking.

 

 

 

 

 

This species is a popular pet in many parts of the world.

The generic name was the Roman name of Africa, whereas the specific name in Ancient Greek was the term for guineafowl as well as for the turkey. The many misunderstandings regarding this name is explained on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in the United States and Canada, genus Meleagris.

The popular name refers to the naked, bony crest, which is not unlike certain types of Middle Age helmets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Presumably, the name bustard is a distortion of Old French bistarde and oustarde, both derived from the Latin avis tarda (‘slow bird’), perhaps alluding to the gravitational walking style of the larger species.

 

The generic name is derived from Afer (feminine Afra), ultimately from a Punic or Berber term for the country, where the city of Carthage was located, later referred to as Africa; and otis (see kori bustard below).

 

It was first described in 1831 by Scottish surgeon, explorer, and zoologist Andrew Smith (1797-1872), who gave it the name Eupodotis afraoides. The specific name means ‘resembling afra’, referring to the southern black korhaan, which had been named Eupodotis afra.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from ardea, the Latin word for heron, and otis, the Latin word for bustard, ultimately from Ancient Greek ous (‘ear’) and -is (extended form), thus ‘eared’, presumably alluding to the long tuft of feathers on the cheeks of the great bustard (Otis tarda).

 

The specific name is derived from the Tswana word for the kori bustard, kgori.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek eupous or eupodos (‘swift of foot’), and otis (see kori bustard above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek lissos (‘smooth’ or ‘plain’), and otis (see kori bustard above).

 

During the courtship display, the male retracts his head to his back, giving “a short, rising, wheezy whistle, zhweeeeee,” pauses in that position, and slowly raises his head, giving “a popping quock or plop, followed by soft gurgling.” (Source: D.A. Zimmerman, D.A. Turner & D.J. Pearson 1999. Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Princeton University Press)

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and gaster (‘belly’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek lophos (‘crest’), and otis (see kori bustard above).

 

The specific name was given in honour of Abdou Gindi, an Egyptian explorer, who collected birds in Zanzibar, Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia), and Somaliland around 1880. Otherwise, very little is known about him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite their name, snowfinches of the genera Montifringilla, Onychostruthus, and Pyrgilauda are not finches, but members of the sparrow family.

 

 

In many parts of its distribution area, it has declined dramatically in later years, mainly due to the increased usage of chemical fertilizers and insecticides.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘belonging to the house’, derived from domus (‘house’).

Other pictures, depicting this species, may be seen on the pages Animals: Urban animal life, and Nature: Invasive species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours Mehmed Emin Pasha (1840-1892), born Eduard Carl Oscar Theodor Schnitzer, a physician and naturalist of German Jewish origin, who first collected this species in southern Sudan. In 1864, he left Germany for Constantinople, entering Ottoman service. In 1886, the Ottoman Empire endowed him with the honorary title pasha, after which he was known as Emin Pasha. He later became governor of the Egyptian province of Equatoria on the Upper Nile. Bey was another honorary Ottoman title, bestowed on local rulers.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and oura (‘tail’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin rufus (‘rufous’) and cinctus (‘banded’), ultimately from cingere (‘to encircle’), referring to the rufous semi-circle on the side of the head of the male. The female lacks this marking, but has a pale eyebrow. The pale yellow iris is also distinctive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours English naturalist and artist William Swainson (1789-1855), who brought back to England a huge collection from Brazil and other places, including over 20,000 insects, 1,200 species of plants, drawings of 120 species of fish, and about 760 bird skins.

While he was generally regarded as having some expertise in zoology, his botanical career turned out to be disastrous. William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), the first director of the famous Kew Botanical Gardens, wrote about him: “In my life I think I never read such a series of trash and nonsense. There is a man who left this country with the character of a first rate naturalist (though with many eccentricities), and of a very first-rate natural history artist, and he goes to Australia and takes up the subject of botany, of which he is as ignorant as a goose.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formerly, it was presumed that the gular sac was a means to store food for several days, but this is not the case. This belief was the cause of a funny limerick, written in 1910 by American poet Dixon Lanier Merritt (1879-1972):

 

 

However, recent DNA research has revealed that the 5 Old World species (great white, Dalmatian, pink-backed, spot-billed, and Australian) form one lineage, whereas the American white, the brown, and the Peruvian form another. The great white was the first to diverge from the common ancestor, which suggests that pelicans evolved in the Old World and later spread into the Americas.

Traditionally, pelicans were thought to be related to cormorants, darters, gannets, frigatebirds, and tropicbirds, but genetic research has shown that they form an order, Pelecaniformes, together with herons, the hamerkop (see Scopidae), and the shoebill (Balaeniceps rex).

 

The specific name is a Latinized version of onokrotalos, the classical Greek word for pelicans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘reddish’, derived from rufus (‘red’). Presumably, it also refers to the pink rump.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Numerous cormorant species are presented on the pages Fishing, and Silhouettes.

 

The generic name is a combination of Ancient Greek mikros (‘small’), and the original generic name of cormorants, Carbo, introduced in 1799 by French naturalist Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon (1756-1825), Count of Lacépède.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘crowned’, derived from coronare (‘to crown’), originally from corona (‘crown’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek phalakros (‘bald’) and korax (‘raven’), where ‘bald’ refers to the white (but feathered) crown of the great cormorant (P. carbo) during the breeding season, whereas ‘raven’ presumably alludes to its otherwise black plumage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘bright’, derived from lucis (‘light’), presumably alluding to the white head, neck, and upper breast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Asian species have been retained in Francolinus, whereas the remaining two Asian species have been moved to the genus Ortygornis, together with the African crested francolin (below).

The remaining African species have been divided into several genera, Scleroptila (7 species), Campocolinus (3 species), Peliperdix (1 species), and Pternistis (24 species). All members of the latter genus are now referred to as spurfowl. Finally, genetic research has shown that Nahan’s francolin is not a francolin, but closely related to the stone partridge (Ptilopachus petrosus), and for this reason it has been renamed Nahan’s partridge (Ptilopachus nahani).

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek ortyx (‘quail’) and ornis (‘bird’), referring to the relatively small size of these francolins.

 

As mentioned above, it was formerly classified in a separate genus, Dendroperdix, but has now been moved to the genus Ortygornis. Like its close Asian relatives, the grey francolin and the swamp francolin, it has a far-reaching duet call, rendered as chee-chakla, chee-chakla.

The specific name is probably a Tswana word.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized version of Ancient Greek pternistes (‘one who strikes with the heel’), derived from pterne (‘heel’), alluding to the spur, which is used in combats between males.

 

The specific name is an alternative spelling of the Latin aspersus (‘sprinkled’), presumably alluding to the very finely barred plumage of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

In Uganda, western Kenya, and north-western Tanzania, its distribution overlaps with that of the yellow-necked spurfowl (below). These two species are very similar. The common names refer to the bright red/yellow patch of naked skin on the throat, and both have naked red skin around the eyes. They probably hybridize, indicated by the bottom picture below.

The specific name means African, derived from Afer (feminine Afra), ultimately from a Punic or Berber term for the country, where the city of Carthage was located, later referred to as Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin castanea (‘chestnut’) and collum (‘neck’).

 

 

 

 

 

It was named for English explorer and naturalist Frederick John Jackson (1860-1929) who collected the first specimens. He later became Governor of Uganda (1911-1917).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and skepas (‘mantle’), probably alluding to the rather pale hindneck.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin rufus (‘red’) and pictus (‘painted’), presumably referring to the rufous mantle.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek skleros (‘stiff’) and ptilon (‘feather’).

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek psilos (‘naked’) and laimos (‘throat’).

 

 

 

 

 

These birds all breed in large colonies in shallow saline lakes, where they build tall mud nests. They are famous for their remarkable ‘dance’, in which hundreds of birds march close together, turning their head this way and that.

Traditionally, the ibises and spoonbills, of the family Threskiornithidae, were considered the closest relatives of flamingos, but recent molecular studies have suggested that their closest relatives are grebes, however incongruous that may seem.

The common name is derived from the Spanish flamengo (‘flame-coloured’), alluding to the partly crimson plumage of these birds.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek phoinix (‘crimson’ or ‘red’) and naias (‘water nymph’ or ‘naiad’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek phoinix (‘crimson’ or ‘red’) and pteron (‘wing’), whereas the specific name is Latin, meaning ‘rose-coloured’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a diminutive of Ancient Greek phoinix (‘crimson’). I fail to understand the diminutive, as bill and legs of these birds are bright red.

 

The specific name refers to the purplish wings and tail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kampe (‘caterpillar’) and therao (‘to hunt’).

 

The specific name commemorates British naturalist Edward Turner Bennett (1797-1836). In 1835, he described a new species of African crocodile, Mecistops leptorhynchus. He also published a number of articles in Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, but otherwise not much is known about him.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name means ‘Nubian’, from the Arabic an-Nuba, the name of a region along the Nile, from the confluence of the Blue and White Niles at Khartoum northwards to the first cataract of the Nile, just south of Aswan, southern Egypt. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.

 

 

 

 

 

The name Pitta is of Dravidian origin, from Telugu pitta, meaning ‘a pretty pet’.

 

The closely related green-breasted pitta (P. reichenowi) replaces the African pitta in the dense rainforests of the Congo Basin. Genetic studies indicate that the western populations of angolensis may in fact be subspecies of the green-breasted pitta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Ancient Greek batis, or batidos, an unidentified, worm-eating bird, mentioned by Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.).

 

The specific name is Latin, from miscere (‘to mix’). What it refers to is not clear.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours German ornithologist and herpetologist Anton Reichenow (1847-1941) who collected birds in West Africa 1872-1873. He also wrote Die Vögel Afrikas (‘Birds of Africa’, 1900-05).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The plumage of male and female differ, males having a black breast band, females a chestnut breast band and a chestnut spot on the throat, giving rise to the name of the bird.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘miller’. It was originally applied to the Cape batis (B. capensis), from Boer Dutch moolenar (‘miller’), alluding to the supposed resemblance of the song of the male to the grinding of mill-stones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bird was named by German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (1794-1884) in honour of another bird collector, Dinemelli (c. 1840), who worked in Ethiopia, but about whom nothing else is known.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name combines Ancient Greek eu (‘fine’) and the Latin plectes (‘weaver’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of the armpit’, derived from axilla (‘armpit’ or ‘shoulder’), alluding to the ruddy wing patch.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘of barley’, from hordeum (‘barley’). Perhaps the type specimen was encountered in a barley field – or maybe just in a grassy area.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is a Latinized form of Ancient Greek prokne, a kind of swallow. The name stems from the Greek mythology (see genus Ptyonoprogne above). The connection to this bird is obscure.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek psammos (‘sand’) and khroma (‘complexion’), presumably alluding to the wing patch.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek histourgos (‘weaver’) and ops (‘appearance’), whereas the specific name is derived from the Latin rufus (‘red’ or ‘rufous’) and cauda (‘tail’).

 

 

 

 

 

It is the only member of the genus, restricted to Namibia, southern Botswana, and South Africa. It is very common in many areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is composed of two other generic names, Ploceus (true weavers) and Passer (sparrows).

 

The specific name is the Tswana word for this bird, originally from mogale (‘a bold person’), indicating its confidence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek plokeus (‘weaver’), ultimately from pleko (‘to entwine’). It was applied due to the nests of these birds, which are often intricately woven strips of grass or other plants.

 

The specific name was applied by French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788). Supposedly, the name was based on the Amharic name of the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The plumage is variable, but it always has a dark back, in some subspecies jetblack, the underparts are yellow, and the bill is whitish-grey.

 

 

 

 

 

The more widespread eastern golden weaver (P. subaureus) is similar, but has red iris, whereas the golden palm weaver has black iris.

The specific name honours Czech naturalist Wenceslas Bojer (1795-1856), who spent several years in Mauritius, Madagascar, and eastern Africa, where he collected a huge amount of minerals and plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species has been introduced to Portugal, Mauritius and Réunion, and several Caribbean islands.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘hooded’, alluding to the black head of the male. Another name of the bird is spot-backed weaver, referring to the black and yellow checkerboard-pattern on back and wings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name was given in honour of English administrator, explorer, and ornithologist Frederick John Jackson (1860-1929), who lived in Kenya and later became Governor of Uganda (1911-1917).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘yellowish’. Quite an understatement, I must say!

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘veiled’, derived from velare (‘to cover’), presumably alluding to the face mask.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1850, French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857) described the grey-capped social weaver (below) as Nigrita arnaudi, as he thought it was a kind of negrofinch (Nigrita). However, in 1903, German naturalist Anton Reichenow (1847-1941) moved it and the black-capped social weaver, then known as Nigrita cabanisi, to his newly erected genus Pseudonigrita, as he regarded them as being related to weaverbirds, whereas negrofinches are members of the estrildid finches (Estrildidae).

 

The specific name commemorates French geographer and naturalist Théodore Louis Joseph-Pons d’Arnaud (1811-1884) who undertook several expeditions in the Sudan, Ethiopia, and Yemen. He collected this species around 1841 near Juba, Sudan.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek sporos (‘seed’) and opipeuo (‘to watch’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘fronted’, alluding to the speckled cap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin podicis (‘vent’) and pes (‘foot’), alluding to the position of the legs of these birds near the vent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These birds are characterized by having tubular nasal passages on the upper mandible, to which a gland is attached. When feeding, they invariably swallow a lot of sea water, and surplus salt in their bodies is excreted through this gland.

 

The generic name is an anagram of the Portuguese name pintado (‘pied’ or ‘spotted’), applied by early navigators, referring to its piebald plumage. The name petrel alludes to Saint Peter, who, as the story goes, was able to walk on water. When this bird and other petrels are about to take off, they paddle with their feet on the surface, which resembles walking.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin procella (‘storm’) and arius (‘pertaining to’), which refers to the fact that these birds live in stormy seas. The common name is explained above.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin aequinoctium (‘equinox’). The connection to this bird is hard to see. Maybe it was named on one of the dates of equinox.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson (1723-1806), who erected the genus in 1760, they must have resembled bee-eaters, since he combined the Ancient Greek prefix pro (‘close to’) and the generic name of bee-eaters, Merops.

 

This species is endemic to fynbos (Africaans for ‘fine bush’ – a habitat with low vegetation and scattered bushes) of the Cape area of southern South Africa. It is often observed feeding in flowers of the family Proteaceae, which has numerous members in southern Africa.

In a zoological context, the specific name merely means ‘of South Africa’. Strictly speaking, it originates from the Arabic kafir (‘unbeliever’ or ‘infidel’), implying people who did not ‘admit’ (to the blessings of God), i.e. non-Muslims. Later, the term was mainly used for Christians, but in East Africa also for pagan black Africans. In the 1700s, English missionaries in South Africa adopted the word as an equivalent of ‘heathen’, referring to non-Christian black Africans. In the 1900s, it changed meaning, becoming a derogatory term for black Africans in general. (Source: etymonline.com/word/kaffir)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, the family Psittacidae has two subfamilies, African parrots (Psittacinae) with 2 genera and about 12 species, and American parrots (Arinae), with 32 genera and about 150 species.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek phaios (‘grey’ or ‘dusky’) and kephale (‘head’).

 

The specific name honours German naturalist Bernhard Meyer (1767-1836), who, together with Johann Wolf (1765-1824), wrote Naturgeschichte der Vögel Deutschlands (‘Natural History of the Birds of Germany’) (1806).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin rufus (‘rufous’) and ventris (‘belly’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek korax (‘raven’) and opsis (‘appearance’), alluding to the dark plumage of these birds. The common name is a corruption of the Malagasy name vaza for the greater vasa parrot (below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

These birds live in open plains, grasslands, and semi-deserts. They belong to two genera, Pterocles (below), and Syrrhaptes with 2 species. The latter are restricted to Central Asia, although Pallas’s sandgrouse (S. paradoxus) is famous for its irregular invasions of Europe.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek pteron (‘wing’) and kles (‘notable’ or ‘splendid’), alluding to the many beautiful members of the genus.

 

The specific name is Latin, derived from bi (‘two’ or ‘double’) and cinctus (‘banded’), from cingere (‘to encircle’). The name refers to two narrow bands, a black and a white one, on the belly of the male.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘adorned’ or ‘beautiful’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours German physician, zoologist, and explorer Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein (1780-1857), who travelled in southern Africa 1802-1806, becoming the personal physician of the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1811, he published his impressions from this period in Reisen im südlichen Afrika in den Jahren 1803, 1804, 1805, und 1806. He was appointed professor of zoology at the University of Berlin in 1811, and became the director of the Zoological Museum in Berlin in 1813.

 

 

 

 

 

It was named for Namaqualand, in the Khoikhoi language Nama-kwa, meaning ‘the land of the Nama Khoe people’.

 

 

 

 

 

Sub-Saharan members of the family, called greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills, are mainly forest birds, whereas the majority of North African and Asian species live in open areas.

 

The generic name alludes to Bleda (died 445), elder brother of Attila the Hun. They ruled their empire together, but Bleda was probably murdered by Attila.

In 1837, when English naturalist and artist William Swainson (1789-1855) described the red-tailed bristlebill (below), he named it Dasycephala syndactyla. However, the name Dasycephala was later applied to a genus in the New World family Tyrannidae. The name of that genus was later changed to Attila, alluding to the aggressive behaviour of members of the genus. Thus we may assume that this is the reason why the red-tailed bristlebill was renamed Bleda. If anyone has a more exact explanation, I would be glad to hear about it.

The common name alludes to the long bristly hairs at the base of the bill.

 

Adult birds have a bright yellow iris, younger birds brown.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘marked’. It might refer to the eye colour.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘having fused fingers’. Does this bird have webbed toes?

 

 

 

Members of this genus are yellowish or pale green. The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek khloros (‘green’) and kikhle (‘thrush’).

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin flavus (‘yellow’) and venter (‘belly’), but the entire bird is yellowish, with a conspicuous, narrow, yellow eyebrow.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek phyllon (‘leaf’) and strepho (‘to toss or turn’), presumably alluding to these birds turning leaves on the forest floor in search of food.

During our expedition to Rondo Forest in southern Tanzania, November 1988, we caught a full-grown yellow-streaked greenbul (P. flavostriatus), which would have been at least 7 months and more likely at least 18 months old. This bird was caught again in Rondo Forest on 18th December 2006, by Elias Mungaya and other members of the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania. Thus, it was at least 18 years and 8 months old – a considerable age for members of this family.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin strepere (‘to make a loud noise’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek pyknos (‘thick’ or ‘compact’) and noton (‘back’), applied in 1826 by German zoologist and lawyer Friedrich Boie (1789-1870), who described many new species and several new genera of birds. Presumably, Boie found that these birds were quite compact. He and his brother Heinrich also described about 50 new species of reptiles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for coot.

 

The specific name means ‘crested’, a somewhat erroneous name for the red knobs on the forehead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic, specific, and common names commemorate French physician and naturalist Jules Rouget, who collected birds for Museum de Paris in Abyssinia (today’s Ethiopia) 1839-1841. He died of dysentery in 1841 during his stay in Abyssinia.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is an anagram of the genus name Porzana (crakes).

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin flavus (‘yellow’) and rostrum (‘bill’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first part of the generic name is derived from the Latin amentum, a leather strap, which was attached to a javelin, used in ancient Greek athletics, hunting, and warfare. This strap helped to increase the range and stability of the javelin in flight. (Source: E. Gardiner 1907. Throwing the Javelin. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 27: 249-273)

The second part of the name is derived from Ancient Greek pous (‘foot’). Thus, Himantopus may be translated as ‘strap-leg’, which of course refers to the very long, thin legs of these birds.

 

The male is usually a little larger than the female, with black wings and back, often with a greenish sheen, whereas back and wings of the female are dark slate-coloured. Head and neck can be pure white, but have more or less extended parts of dark on many birds. Immature birds, up to one year old, have more greyish legs, but are difficult to distinguish from adults.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin recurvus (‘curved backwards’) and rostrum (‘bill’), referring to the up-curved bill of these birds, an adaptation to ‘skim’ the surface of the water in search of tiny animals. The common name derives from a Proto-Italian word, which, allegedly, was the name of the pied avocet (below).

 

The specific name is explained above.

 

 

 

 

 

These birds belong to a group of waders, in which the female has a brighter plumage than the male, the latter being in charge of incubation and rearing the young.

 

Initially, Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) regarded this bird as a rail, naming it Rallus benghalensis in 1758. However, he soon realized that is was not a rail, and in 1766 he moved it to the genus Scolopax, a name he used for many waders. (Today, it is only used for woodcocks.)

In 1816, French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot (1748-1830) moved it to the genus Rostratula, a diminutive of the Latin rostratus (‘beaked’ or ‘large-billed’), ultimately from rostrum (‘bill’). He probably meant ‘the small one having a large bill’.

The specific name refers to the type locality Bengal, in India. Historically, Bengal comprised the greater part of northern India and Bangladesh. The name painted-snipe was given in allusion to the colourful plumage of the female.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When describing this bird in 1769, Dutch naturalist Arnout Vosmaer (1720-1799) likened its gait to that of an advancing crossbowman. For this reason the bird had been given the name sagittaire (French for ‘archer’), from the Latin sagitta (‘arrow’). He mentioned that Boer farmers of the Cape of Good Hope, who kept the bird in captivity to eradicate snakes, called it secretaris (‘secretary’), probably referring to the stiff feathers on the hindneck of the bird, which resemble the writing quills that secretaries in the old days would stick behind their ear. Vosmaer maintained that secretaris was a corruption of sagittaire. However, this presumption is wrong, because, originally, the bird did not have a French name. Rather, the exact opposite is the case.

The specific name is derived from the Latin serpens (‘snake’), alluding to its main prey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin arena (‘sand’), thus ‘the one living in sand’. The English name refers to a feeding habit of these birds, flipping over sea shells and small stones to search for small invertebrates.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘interpreter’. It is in fact a misnomer. When Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) visited the island of Gotland in 1741, he learned that the local population used the word tolk for certain species of waders. In Swedish, tolk means ‘interpreter’, so he applied the name Tringa interpres to the turnstone. However, in the local dialect the word tolk means ‘legs’, alluding to the long red legs of the redshank (Tringa totanus).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kalidris, a term used by Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) for some grey-coloured water bird.

 

During surveys of waders and other water birds along the coast of Tanzania in 1988 and 1989, we counted about 21,000 curlew sandpipers, corresponding to about 86 birds per km. Our ‘guesstimate’ was that around 100,000 individuals of this species winter along the Tanzanian coast. (Source: Petersen, I.K., T. Bregnballe, K. Halberg & O. Thorup 1989. Tanzania Wader Survey. A preliminary report of the Danish-Tanzanian ICBP-expedition 1988. Copenhagen University)

The specific name is derived from the Latin ferrugo (‘iron rust’), from ferrum (‘iron’), given in allusion to its rusty-red breast in the breeding plumage. The common name refers to its down-curved bill, slightly reminiscent of the bill of the curlew (Numenius arquata).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It winters mainly in Africa, with some numbers around the Mediterranean, and from the Middle East along the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula to the Indian Subcontinent.

In Latin, the specific name means ‘very small’.

 

 

 

 

 

When the breeding season begins, the males gather on an arena on a grassy spot, a so-called lek. When a female arrives at the arena, the males start fighting (in deep silence) to attract the attention of the female. She walks around to survey the entire group before choosing a male, which will mate with her. She then leaves to take care of nest-building, incubating, and chick-rearing by herself.

As a breeding bird, this species is widely distributed in Arctic, sub-Arctic, and northern temperate areas, from eastern England across northern Europe and Siberia, eastwards to around the Kolyma River. There are also scattered populations in Central Asia.

European populations have declined drastically in later years due to draining and overgrowth of suitable habitats.

The wintering area includes southern and western Europe, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, southern Asia, and to some degree Australia.

Formerly, this species was named Philomachus pugnax, but genetic research has shown that it is closely related to Calidris sandpipers. The former generic name is derived from Ancient Greek philos (‘loving’) and makhomai (‘to fight’), whereas the specific name is derived from the Latin pugno (‘I fight’) and ax (‘inclined to’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of the classical Greek name of these birds, noumenios. Both common English names are imitative, whimbrel imitating the trilling call of both whimbrels, curlew the call of the Eurasian curlew (N. arquata). The latter was first recorded by William Langland (1332-1386) in Piers Plowman, from the 1370s: “Fissch to lyue in þe flode..Þe corlue by kynde of þe eyre.”

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek phaios (‘dusky’, ‘brown’, or ‘grey’) and pous (‘foot’).

Previously, the Hudsonian whimbrel (N. hudsonicus) was considered a subspecies of the Eurasian whimbrel, but today most authorities regard them as separate species. A picture of the Hudsonian whimbrel may be seen on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in Chile.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name was applied to the green sandpiper (T. ochropus) by Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1599), who was the founder of the botanical garden of Bologna – one of the first of its kind. The name is derived from Ancient Greek trungas, referring to a thrush-sized, tail-bobbing wading bird, mentioned by Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.).

 

The specific name is a diminutive of the Latin glarea (‘gravel’), thus ‘the one found in small gravel’ (= sand?).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin nebula (‘mist’). It refers to a Norwegian name of the bird, skoddeføll (‘fog-foal’), alluding to its foggy, marshy habitat, and to its call, which was likened to whinnying.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin stagnum (‘pool’ or ‘swamp’), alluding to the preferred habitat of the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from Ancient Greek xenos (‘stranger’), whereas the specific name is derived from the Latin cinis (‘ashes’), alluding to its ash-grey back in winter. The common name refers to the Terek River, on the west coast of the Caspian Sea. Presumably, the type specimen was collected there.sc

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the Boer people arrived in South Africa in the 18th century, they named it hamerkop (‘hammer-head’ in Dutch), due to its maul-shaped crest. Later, this name was adopted by the British.

Traditionally, this species is protected in many places, making it rather confident. An example may be seen on the page Culture: Boats.

The generic name is a Latinized form of Ancient Greek skopos (‘watcher’ or ‘guardian’), presumably alluding to the fact that this bird is often perched on trees. The specific name is derived from the Latin umbretta (‘earth-brown colour’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a diminutive of Ancient Greek sphenos (‘wedge’), in reference to the thin, wedge-shaped flippers of these birds.

 

The specific name means ‘plunging’ in the Latin.

The pictures below were all taken at Boulders, Simonstown, Cape Town, South Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin name of the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek glaukidion (‘small owl’), diminutive of glaux (‘owl’).

 

It was named due to the pearly white spots on wings and crown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The northern ostrich, ssp. camelus, was once widespread in northern Africa, but has disappeared from large parts of its former range. It is today considered critically endangered.

The Somali ostrich, ssp. molybdophanes, which has a bluish neck and legs, lives in southern Ethiopia, north-eastern Kenya, and Somalia. Some authorities regard it as a separate species, S. molybdophanes. This seems rather odd to me, as other ostriches, which are regarded as a single species, live both north and south of this population.

The male Masai ostrich, ssp. massaicus, has pink neck and legs, the female greyish. It is found from southern Ethiopia and southern Somalia southwards to southern Tanzania.

The southern ostrich, ssp. australis, has grey neck and legs. It is widely distributed south of the rivers Zambezi and Cunene. In some places, it is farmed for meat, leather, and feathers.

The Arabian ostrich, ssp. syriacus, which was formerly very common in the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, and Iraq, became extinct around 1966 due to overhunting. Wealthy Arabs, armed with the most modern weapons, pursued anything larger than foxes from jeeps, such as oryx, gazelle, and ostrich, and everything was gunned down mercilessly.

Attempts to reintroduce the species to Israel have failed. In Australia, escaped ostriches have established feral populations.

The generic name is the classical Latin name of the bird. The specific name refers to its great size and its way of walking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many species have been introduced elsewhere, including North America, Hawaii, and New Zealand. They often compete with native birds, and many are regarded as invasive species, in North America especially the common starling (Sturnus vulgaris), which is dealt with on the page Nature: Invasive species.

 

Male and female have a very different plumage, the male being of an iridescent purplish-violet colour with white underside, whereas the female has a brownish head and upperside and a whitish underside with heavy black streaking.

The generic name is composed of the name of a genus of sunbirds, Cinnyris, referring to the splendour of the male, and the Latin cinclus (‘thrush’). The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and gaster (‘belly’). The common name amethyst starling alludes to a purplish-violet type of quartz of the same colour as the male.

 

 

 

 

 

During the breeding season, the male has a distinctive head pattern, with naked yellow skin on hind crown and cheeks, black forehead, and long, black throat wattles. The latter is reflected in the generic name, derived from Ancient Greek kreas (‘flesh’) and phoros (‘carrying’).

Outside the breeding season, males resemble the females, having a dark-grey upperside with black flight feathers, a pale grey underside, and a pale yellow spot behind the eye.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘ash-grey’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek lampros (‘radiant’ or ‘splendid’) and ornis (‘bird’).

 

It is a rather small species, often identified by a broad darker band through and below the eye, from the bill to the nape, and by its greenish wings, reflected in the specific name, which is derived from Ancient Greek khloros (‘green’) and pteron (‘wing’).

 

 

 

 

 

Neither of the common names are appropriate. It lives in a much larger area than the Cape Province, and although it has a few reddish feathers on the forewing, they are usually hidden by the wing-coverts.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘shining’ or ‘glittering’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Ancient Greek, meaning ‘purple-winged’. The common name commemorates German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (1794-1884), who collected numerous specimens of plants and animals in Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek notos (‘south’) and pholia (‘living in a cave or hole’), the specific name from the Latin coruscus (‘brilliant’ or ‘flashing’), thus ‘the brilliant southern one, living in a cave’, i.e. breeding in tree holes.

 

 

 

 

 

These birds are quite similar, having rufous primary flight feathers, conspicuous in flight. The males are typically mainly glossy black, whereas the females are duller, often with a grey head.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek onykhos (‘claw’ or ‘talon’) and gnathos ‘jaw’, presumably alluding to the sharp, slightly down-curved bill.

 

The sexes differ, the male is iridescent black, whereas the female has an ash-grey head and upper breast.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘black quartz’, naturally alluding to the plumage of the male.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is the name for this bird by the Nama people of Namaqualand, in the Khoikhoi language Nama-kwa, meaning ‘the land of the Nama Khoe people’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gannets hunt fish by diving into the sea from heights of up to 30 m, achieving speeds of almost 100 km/h, which enables them to catch fish at a much greater depth than most other airborne birds.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek moros (‘foolish’), given due to the lack of fear shown by these birds at the breeding ground, allowing them to be easily killed. The common name comes from Old English ganot, ultimately from Proto-Germanic ganzo (‘gander’), which, in German, means ‘a male goose’. In English, however, it may also mean ‘a fool’.

The Australian gannet is presented on the page Sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the Icelandic and Faroese name of the northern gannet (Morus bassanus).The name booby is derived from Old Spanish bobo (‘stupid person’), see gannets above.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek dactyl (‘finger’) and from the Latin ater (‘black), alluding to the black, splayed wingtips in flight (see photo below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek bostrykhion (‘small curl’), diminutive of bostrykhos (‘curl’). What it refers to is not clear.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin caruncula (‘a small piece of flesh’), diminutive of carnis (‘flesh’). It refers to a small reddish wattle, hanging down from the throat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek platea (‘broad’), alluding to the broad, spoon-shaped bill of these birds.

The black-faced spoonbill (P. minor) is presented on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in Taiwan.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek plegados (‘sickle’), referring to the down-curved bill.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin falcis (‘sickle’), like the generic name alluding to the shape of the bill.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek threskeia (‘religious worship’) and ornis (‘bird’), alluding to the sanctity of the sacred ibis (below) in Ancient Egypt.

 

It was common in Ancient Egypt, but has since become extinct. It was venerated as a symbol of the god of knowledge, Thoth, which is often depicted with the head of an ibis.

Today, the sacred ibis is a common and popular species in zoological gardens worldwide. It often escapes, and populations in the wild have been established in France, Italy, Spain, the Canary Islands, Florida, Taiwan, and elsewhere. These populations are a great threat to many other birds, competing for nesting sites with cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), little egret (Egretta garzetta) and other species. Ibises are predators, which can ravage colonies of terns and other birds by eating their eggs and young.

Strictly speaking, the specific name means ‘from Ethiopia’. However, in the old days the word had a much broader meaning, including most of Tropical Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The family name, and with that the common name, is derived from Ancient Greek trogo (‘to gnaw’ or ‘to nibble’), referring to the bill of these birds, which has sharp, jagged ‘teeth’ along the edge of the mandibles. They nest in tree cavities, probably made by woodpeckers. However, using these ‘teeth’ they are able to enlarge the cavity, provided the wood is sufficiently decayed.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek hapalos (‘delicate’) and derma (‘skin’), alluding to the fact that feathers of these birds are very easily torn loose from the thin skin. We experienced this ourselves, when we caught the bird in the picture below in a mistnet. Just by taking the bird out of the net, many breast feathers came off.

 

The specific name is the Khoikhoi word for ‘flower’, applied by French naturalist François Levaillant (1753-1824) in 1806. French naturalist René Primevère Lesson (1794-1849) claimed that Levaillant had named the trogon after a Khoikhoi girl, whom he, presumably, found attractive, but whose name was ugly and unpronounceable, so he decided to use the word for flower instead.

 

 

 

 

 

The word thrush is derived from Old English throstle, from Proto-Germanic þrustlō, an ancient name for the song thrush (Turdus philomelos). In Old Saxon, þrustlō became throsla, in German Drossel. The latter name was adopted by the Danes, whereas the Swedes use the name trast for these birds, and the Norwegians trost.

A number of thrush species are dealt with on the page Animals – Birds: Thrushes.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek geo (‘ground’) and kikhle (‘thrush’), referring to the almost exclusively ground-feeding habit of these birds.

 

This species spends much time searching for small invertebrates among the leaf-litter on the forest floor. Its distinctive colouration is an adaptation that makes it difficult to see among the leaves.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘spotted’ or ‘speckled’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek neos (‘new’) and kossyphos, which was the classical Greek name of the blackbird (Turdus merula), but also meaning ‘thrush’ in general.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘rufous’, referring to the predominantly rufous plumage of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek psophos (‘loud noise’) and kikhle (‘thrush’), referring to the loud, clicking call of these birds.

 

The specific name litsitsirupa is a Tswana word, imitating the bird’s call.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name refers to the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for thrush.

 

The specific name was given by mistake to this species. It is derived from lebonyana, the Tswana name for the red-billed buffalo-weaver (Bubalornis niger). The prefix Kurrichane is a corruption of the name Kaditshwene, a place in South Africa, where the original specimen was collected. That name is thought to be derived from a Tswana expression: “Ga se ka ditshwene!”, meaning “What an incredible number of baboons!” (Source: J. Boeyens 2000. In Search of Kaditshwene. The South African Archaeological Bulletin, 55 (171): 3-17)

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, 7 of these subspecies were included in the olive thrush (T. olivaceus), which was described in 1760 by French naturalist Mathurin Jacques Brisson (1723-1806) in his Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés, based on a specimen collected from Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. He applied a French name to it, Le merle olive du Cap de Bonne Espérance, and also a Latin name, Merula Olivacea Capitis Bonae Spei, both names meaning ‘the olive thrush of Cape of Good Hope’.

In 1766, when the well-known Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) updated his Systema Naturæ for the 12th edition, he added 240 species, which Brisson had previously described, including the olive thrush, naming it Turdus olivaceus, and citing Brisson’s work. (Source: Allen, J.A. 1910. Collation of Brisson’s genera of birds with those of Linnaeus. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 28: 317-335)

There is still some controversy about the relationship between these two species, and some authorities maintain that some of the subspecies of African thrush should be transferred back to the olive thrush, which, as of today, is restricted to southern Africa.

The specific name is Ancient Greek, having several meanings, including ‘pale’, presumably alluding to the underside of some of the subspecies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formerly, it was believed that it had an almost global distribution, but the former Asian, Australian, and American subspecies have now been upgraded to a number of separate species.

The generic name is an Ancient Greek term for owls. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white’, so it must have been named for a bird of the white morph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name has been explained in two ways. One says that it is derived from the Latin viduus (‘bereaved’ or ‘widowed’), due to the colour of the indigobirds. Another explanation is that the word is a corruption of Whidah, the name of an African fort, around which these birds were common.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek makros (‘long’) and oura (‘tail’).