Carola's Parotia
Parotia carolae
A fairly large, short-tailed bird of mid-montane forest canopy. Male is mainly black with white flanks, golden throat, bronzy-scaled chest, white stripe down the forehead and 6 antennalike feathers projecting from the back of the head. Note the yellow eye. Female is gray-brown above and strongly-barred below with a heavy white stripe above the eye. Male dances at a terrestrial court, where it gives one of the most elaborate displays in the bird world. Co-occurs with Lawes’s Parotia but Carola’s male has white flanks and female lacks a black head. One of many different vocalizations is a loud, quavering shriek.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Parotia carolae
- Authority
- Meyer, AB, 1894
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paradisaeidae
- Genus
- Parotia
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
White-billed Buffalo-Weaver
Bubalornis albirostris
A big, bulky, long-tailed black weaver. The bill is white in males and black in females. There is a white patch on the front edge of the shoulder, and also a pale patch in the wing that can be conspicuous in flight. Immatures are dark brown with heavy streaking below. Found in dry savanna and woodland, often in flocks. Builds huge communal stick nests. Similar to Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver, but never shows a red bill. The common call is a harsh “sjet” that is often given repeatedly by a whole group in chorus.
Hadada Ibis
Bostrychia hagedash
A large, bulky, gray-brown ibis with an iridescent green-purple gloss on the wings. It has a bicolored black-and-red bill and a white streak across the cheek under the eye. Pairs and small flocks occur in a variety of habitats including open country, wetland margins, and forest edge; they forages on the ground, digging, probing soft soil, and picking up invertebrates with their long bills. The frequently-heard call is one of the most characteristic sounds of Africa: a loud, raucous, trumpeting “ha-da-da” which gives the bird its name.
Red-billed Spurfowl
Pternistis adspersus
A medium-sized, brown francolin that is finely barred on the belly, head, and back. It has a diagnostic broad yellow eyering and reddish bill and feet. The juvenile has a reduced eyering and diffuse barring. The harsh, crowing, territorial call given from a low perch (“chak, chak, chak, CHAK, chakitty, chakitty”) is gruffer and lower-pitched than those of other francolins in its range. Natal Francolin differs by having scaled (not barred) underparts and lacking an eyering. Swainson’s Francolin differs by lacking barring and having red facial skin and dark blackish legs.
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