First Field Guide to Common Birds of Southern Africa

Author: Tracey Hawthorne
Struik Publishers
Cape Town, 1998
ISBN: 9781868721207
Paperback, 11x17 cm, 56 pages, throughout colour photos

Description:

These natural history guides have been developed in the hope that young people and anyone with a budding interest in natural history will take up the challenge to learn the secrets of southern Africas fascinating fauna and flora.

These little guides are an invaluable resource for the beginner, providing information at a glance through superb photographs, maps and easy-to-read text.

• handy pocket size
• easy-to-read text
• suitable for the beginner naturalist
• each species is photographed

Southern African Birds:

Southern Africa is home to more than 900 different bird species. Not all of them are year-round residents, however - the jetsetters of the bird world visit only for the summer or winter, flying north again when the season changes.

Some Antarctic species visit southern Africa during the winter. Also, among our resident birds, quite a few are not easily seen, some are rare, and some prefer little inhabited regions such as mountains and deserts, while others are nocturnal or very secretive.

Although only 46 species are covered in this book, many other southern African birds occur in large numbers in the region.

Bear this in mind when you take this book with you on a bird-watching trip.

The habitat map shown opposite will give you an idea of the different types of vegetation found in the region, while the regional map (opposite, bottom) shows the South African provinces, and should be used together with the distribution map shown alongside each species account.

Contents:

Southern African birds
How to use this book
Being a bird-watcher
Jackass Penguin
Spheniscus ilemersus
Little Grebe
Tachyhaptus ruficollis
Eastern White Pelican
Pelecanus onocrotalus
Cape Gannet Morns capensis
Cape Cormorant
Phalacrocorax capensis
African Darter
Anhinga riifa
Little Egret
Egrettci gcirzettu
Hamerkop
Scopus umhretta
African Sacred Ibis
Threskiornis aethiopiciis
Greater Flamingo
Phoenicopterus riiber
Blue Crane
Anthropoides paradiseus
Red-knobbed Coot
Fiilica cristatu
Egyptian Goose
Alopochen aegyptiaca
African Fish Eagle
Haliaeetus vocifer
Black-shouldered Kite
Elanus caeruleus
White-backed Vulture
Gyps africaniis
Ostrich Struthio camelus
Common Moorhen
Gallinula chloropus
Helmeted Guineafowl
Numidci meleayis
Blacksmith Lapwing (Plover)
Vanellus armutiis
Crowned Lapwing (Plover)
Vanellus coronatus
Kelp Gull
Larus dominicanus
Speckled Pigeon
Columha guinea
Laughing Dove
Streptopelia senegdiensis
Grey Go-away-bird (Lourie)
Corythaixoides concolor
Spotted Eagle Owl
Buho africanus
Barn Owl Tvto alba
Pied Kingfisher
Ceryle rudis
African Hoopoe
Upupa africana
Crested Barbet
Trachyphonus vaillantii
Fork-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus adsimilis
Pied Crow
Corvus albus
Dark-capped Bulbul
Pycnonotus tricolor
Olive Thrush
Turdiis olivciceiis
Cape Robin-Chat
Cossypha caffra
Cape Wagtail
Motacilla capensis
Common Fiscal
Ltiniiis collaris
Fiscal Flycatcher
Sigelus silens
Red-winged Starling
Onychognuthus morio
Cape Glossy Starling
Lumprotornis nitens
Amethyst Sunbird
Nectarinia umethystina
House Sparrow
Passer domesticus
Southern Red Bishop
Euplectes orix
Southern Masked Weaver
Ploceiis relatus
Cape White-eye
Zosterops capensis
Cape Canary
Svriniis canicollis
Glossary
Checklist