White-bellied Bustard
Eupodotis senegalensis
A small, tawny-backed bustard with a reddish base to the bill and a strongly demarcated white belly. The male has a blue-gray neck and dark facial markings. Small groups strut through open grassland and bush at elevations below 2000 m. Often first detected by a characteristic, continuous, croaking, nasal “anghara-anghara”, as well as by other similar calls. Female White-bellied Bustard strongly resembles female Black-bellied Bustard, but White-bellied has a shorter neck and legs and white rather than black foreparts to the underwing.
Identification
It is rather small for a bustard, 48 to 61 centimetres (19 to 24 in) long. All are tawny brown above and on the breast and white on the belly, with cream-coloured legs; juveniles have light brown necks and heads, and adults have blue-grey necks. The adult female has a grey crown, a brown and buff line below the eye, and black speckling on the throat. The adult male has a black crown, black lines on the white cheeks, a black throat patch, and a pinkish-red bill. The call, often given in the early morning and late evening, has been described as "a very loud, guttural k'whuka WHUKa, k'wuka WHUKa..., or k'warrak, k'warrak...<p>This species is usually seen in pairs or family groups, as young stay with their parents much longer than those of other bustards in the region.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Eupodotis senegalensis
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1821)
- Order
- Otidiformes
- Family
- Otididae
- Genus
- Eupodotis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Woodland Kingfisher
Halcyon senegalensis
A medium-sized, electric-blue-backed kingfisher with a distinctive bicolored bill: red above and black below. Pairs and singles mostly hunt insects in taller dry woodland, riverine forest, and forest edges. Its loud and characteristic call is a high-pitched “tuuui”, followed by a pause and then a trilling, down-slurred “trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”. Sometimes it advertises by sitting upright, extending its wings to show a bold wing pattern, and calling. Almost all of Africa’s other similar kingfishers have a uniformly red-orange (not bicolored) bill, except the Blue-breasted Kingfisher, which differs by being larger, having a complete pale-blue breast band, and preferring denser lowland rainforest.
Cinnamon Warbling Finch
Poospiza ornata
Small gray and rufous tanager of open thorn forest and scrubby desert in central and northern Argentina and southern Uruguay. Both sexes from similar Black-and-chestnut and Black-and-rufous Warbling-Finches by the rufous supercilium and malar not contrasting with the throat in Cinnamon Warbling-Finch.
Golden-tailed Woodpecker
Campethera abingoni
A medium-sized woodpecker with a streaky breast and throat. Golden coloration in the tail is shared with many of Africa’s woodpeckers, and is thus a poor identification feature. The male has a reddish crown and moustache; the female has a faint moustache and dark crown marked red only toward the back of the head. Pairs are resident in savanna, woodland, and forest edge, exploring large branches in the lower and middle canopy while foraging for insects. Often joins flocks. A nasal shrieking “wheeaa-aaaa” call often betrays its presence. Mombasa Woodpecker is smaller than Golden-tailed Woodpecker, with a plainer white throat and a distinctive call.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.