Black Harrier
Circus maurus
A striking, mostly dark harrier with large white panels in the underwings, a white rump, and bands on the tail. The juvenile is brown with white flashes in the underwings and has a heavily-streaked chest. It quarters low over heath-like fynbos, semi-desert Karoo, and dune brush hunting for small birds and mammals. Regularly disperses irruptively north into grasslands and steppe from January to July.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Circus maurus
- Authority
- (Temminck, 1828)
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Circus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds

Bismarck Woodswallow
Artamus insignis
A thick-bodied, highly aerobatic bird, white-bodied above and below with black wings, a black hood, and an obvious pale eye-ring. Bill pale bluish with a limited dark tip. No similar species occur within its range. Found in open or forest-edge habitats. Common call is an upslurred metallic “zwink zwink,” but not particularly vocal.

Cuban Parakeet
Psittacara euops
A sleek green bird of forests, forest edges, and palm savannahs. Groups of ten to twenty birds often rapidly disappear upon landing, their plumage melting into the similarly colored foliage. Easily distinguished from other species in its range by its color, slim build, and long pointed tail. In overflight appears green with red on forewing. Flight call is shrill and squeaky; notes of each bird often given singly or in couplets. When perched, calls are typically quiet with a murmuring quality.

Sclater's Crowned-Pigeon
Goura sclaterii
An enormous pigeon of the southern lowland rainforests. Erect, mohicanlike crest is especially long at the back. Blue-gray body with maroon on shoulder and chest, up to the throat. Very large white patch can reach the edge of the wing. Has a deep-bellied appearance and twitches the tail nervously. Forages in small groups on the forest floor. Unmistakable and does not overlap with other crowned-pigeons. Call, loud 2-note booming, sounding like a beating heart.
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