Birds of the Serengeti: And Ngorongoro Conservation Area

by Adam Scott Kennedy

Overview

Located in northern Tanzania, the Serengeti is one of the world's most famous wildlife regions. Birds of the Serengeti is a groundbreaking and essential photographic guide, featuring more than 270 bird species most likely to be encountered in the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This easy-to-use guide includes 480 dazzling color photos, an attractive and handy layout, and informative and accessible text that discusses interesting behaviors and provides insights into species background. Rich in detail, this indispensable volume uses a habitat-based approach, making it simple for everyone—from the novice to the experienced birdwatcher—to locate diverse birds in this fascinating area of the world.

• Looks at more than 270 bird species most likely to be encountered in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and Speke Gulf
• Features major plumage variations
• Habitat-based approach
• Informative and accessible text

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691159102
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	03/02/2014
Series:	Wildlife Explorer Guides , #47
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Adam Scott Kennedy has served as principal leader on birding holidays in Africa, South America, Europe, and New Zealand. With his wife, Vicki, he currently operates as a private safari guide, specializing in photographic and wildlife safaris in East Africa. Information on their tours and stock image library can be found at www.rawnaturephoto.com. He is the author of Birds of the Masai Mara (Princeton WILDGuides).

Table of Contents

About this book 9
The habitats 12
Plains 13
Marsh & water 14
Woodland, scrub & garden 15
Acacia scrub 16
Village 17
Forest 18
Up in the air 19
Nightbirds 20
Lake Victoria specials 21
Map of the Serengeti & Ngorongoro Conservation Area - NCA 22

BIRDS OF THE PLAINS
The Big Ones: 1 - Ostrich 24
The Big Ones: 2 - Secretarybird & Grey Crowned Crane 26
Bustards - Kori, Black-bellied & White-bellied Bustards 28
Small plover & coursers - Double-banded & Temminck's Coursers & Kittlitz's Plover 30
Vanellus plovers - Crowned, Senegal & Black-winged Plovers 32
Sandgrouse - Black-faced, Yellow-throated & Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse 34
Storks & ground hornbill - White & Abdim's Storks & Southern Ground Hornbill 36
At the carcass - Marabou Stork & Rüppell’s & White-backed Vultures 38
Vultures - White-headed, Hooded & Lappet-faced Vultures 40
Vultures in flight - all species for comparison 42
Black-and-white eagles & Egyptian Vulture - Martial & Black-chested Snake Eagles & Egyptian Vulture 44
Black-and-white eagles - Verreaux's Eagle, Augur Buzzard & Bateleur 46
Brown raptors - Black Kite & Tawny & Steppe Eagles 48
Raptors in flight - all species for comparison 50
Grey raptors - Pallid & Montagu's Harriers & African Harrier Hawk 52
Large falcon & grey kite - Lanner Falcon & Black-shouldered Kite 54
Small falcons - Grey, Common & Lesser Kestrels 56
Rollers - Lilac-breasted & Eurasian Rollers 58
Oxpeckers & starling - Red-billed & Yellow-billed Oxpeckers & Wattled Starling 60
Little brown jobs or 'LBJs' - Pectoral-patch & Zitting Cisticolas & Red-capped & Rufous-naped Larks 62
Sparrow lark & chats - Fischer's Sparrow Lark & Sooty & Anteater Chats 64
Wheatears - Capped, Northern & Pied Wheatears 66
Upright birds of the plains - Yellow-throated & Rosy-breasted Longclaws & Buffy & Grassland Pipits 68
Bishop & widowbirds - Yellow Bishop & Yellow-mantled & Jackson's Widowbirds 70

BIRDS OF MARSH & WATER
Flamingos - Greater & Lesser Flamingos 72
Wetland storks - Woolly-necked, Yellow-billed & African Open-billed Storks 74
Stork & ibises - Saddle-billed Stork & Sacred & Hadada Ibises 76
Small herons - Hamerkop & Striated & Squacco Herons 78
Large, dark herons - Goliath, Grey & Black-headed Herons 80
Egrets - Cattle, Little & Great White Egrets 82
Fish eagle - African Fish Eagle 84
Smaller ducks - Red-billed Teal & White-faced Whistling & Fulvous Whistling Ducks 86
Larger wildfowl - Spur-winged & Egyptian Geese & Knob-billed Duck 88
Birds of the water's edge - Black-winged Stilt, African Jacana & Black Crake 90
Wetland plovers - African Wattled, Blacksmith & Spur-winged Plovers 92
Waders: 1 - Water Thick-knee & Ruff 94
Waders: 2 - Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper & Three-banded Plover 96
Waders: 3 - Wood, Common & Green Sandpipers 98
Kingfishers - Giant, Malachite & Pied Kingfishers 100
Wagtails & waxbill - Yellow & African Pied Wagtails & Common Waxbill 102

BIRDS OF WOODLand, SCRUB & GARDEN
Open woodland raptors - Brown Snake & Long-crested Eagles & Steppe Buzzard 104
Bustard, thick-knee & courser - Buff-crested Bustard, Spotted Thick-knee & Heuglin's Courser 106
Spurfowl - Red-necked, Grey-breasted & Yellow-necked Spurfowl 108
Gamebirds - Helmeted Guineafowl & Coqui & Crested Francolins 110
'Collared' doves - Ring-necked, African Mourning & Red-eyed Doves 112
Distinctive pigeons & doves - Speckled & African Green Pigeons & Emerald-spotted Wood Dove 114
Doves & mousebird - Namaqua & Laughing Doves & Speckled Mousebird 116
Parrots & hornbill - Fischer's Lovebird, Meyer's Parrot & African Grey Hornbill 118
Large cuckoos & relatives - White-browed Coucal, Red-chested Cuckoo & Bare-faced Go-away-bird 120
Three green gems - Klaas's & Diederik Cuckoos & Little Bee-eater 122
Bush kingfishers - Striped, Woodland & Grey-headed Kingfishers 124
Hoopoes - Green Wood-hoopoe, Common Scimitarbill & Hoopoe 126
Barbets - Usambiro & Spot-flanked Barbets & Red-fronted Tinkerbird 128
Honeyguides & woodpecker - Greater & Lesser Honeyguides & Bearded Woodpecker 130
Woodpeckers - Green-backed, Nubian & Cardinal Woodpeckers 132
Large bushshrikes & oriole - Grey-headed Bushshrike, Tropical Boubou & Black-headed Oriole 134
Small black-and-white birds - Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Chin-spot Batis & Black-backed Puffback 136
White-fronted shrikes - Common & Grey-backed Fiscals & Northern White-crowned Shrike 138
Black birds of woodland edge - Common Drongo, Slate-coloured Boubou & Northern Black Flycatcher 140
Tchagras & bulbul - Brown-crowned & Black-crowned Tchagras, Common Bulbul 142
Thrushes, scrub robin & babbler - Spotted Morning & Olive Thrushes,
White-browed Scrub Robin & Arrow-marked Babbler 144
Attractive flycatchers of woods & gardens - White-eyed Slaty & African Paradise Flycatcher 146
Little brown jobs or 'LBJs' - Rattling Cisticola, Red-faced Crombec & Tawny-flanked Prinia 148
Green warblers - Yellow-breasted Apalis, Grey-backed Camaroptera & Grey-capped Warbler 150
Sunbirds: 1 - Scarlet-chested, Collared & Variable Sunbirds 152
Sunbirds: 2 - Marico, Beautiful & Bronze Sunbirds 154
Colourful birds of bush & garden - White-browed Robin Chat & Rüppell’s & Greater Blue-eared Starlings 156
Brightly coloured starlings - Superb, Hildebrandt’s & Violet-backed Starlings 158
Yellow weavers - Spectacled, Baglafecht & Village Weavers 160
Waxbills - Purple Grenadier, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu & Bronze Mannikin 162
Striking small birds of open bush - Pin-tailed Whydah, Golden-breasted Bunting & Yellow-fronted Canary 164

BIRDS OF ACACIA SCRUB
Acacia barbets & go-away-bird - Red-and-yellow & Red-fronted Barbets & White-bellied Go-away-bird 166
Medium-sized birds of acacia scrub - Blue-naped Mousebird, Abyssinian Scimitarbill & Von der Decken’s Hornbill 168
Shrikes - Brubru, Taita Fiscal & Magpie Shrike 170
Small birds of acacia scrub - Silverbird, African Grey Flycatcher, White-bellied Canary & Foxy Lark 172
Acacia weavers: 1 - Grey-capped Social, Speckle-fronted & Vitelline Masked Weavers 174
Acacia weavers: 2 - Red-billed Buffalo, White-headed Buffalo & Rufous-tailed Weavers 176

VILLAGE BIRDS
Village sparrows - Swahili, Kenya Rufous & House Sparrows 178
Common village birds - Red-billed Firefinch, Village Indigobird & Pied Crow 180

FOREST & CRATER HIGHLandS BIRDS
Large forest birds - White-necked Raven, Schalow’s Turaco & Crowned Hornbill 182
Small birds of forest edge & open areas - Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Streaky Seedeater & African Stonechat 184

BIRDS OF THE AIR
Black swallows & dark martins - Black & White-headed Saw-wings & Plain & Banded Martins 186
Swallows with red rumps - Mosque, Red-rumped, Rufous-chested & Lesser Striped Swallows 188
Swallows with dark rumps - Wire-tailed, Angola & Barn Swallows 190
Swifts - Little, White-rumped, African Palm, Nyanza & Common Swifts 192
Bee-eaters - Eurasian, Blue-cheeked & White-throated Bee-eaters 194

NIGHT BIRDS
Owls - Pearl-spotted Owlet, Verreaux’s Eagle Owl & African Scops Owlbr 196
Barn Owl & nightjars - Barn Owl & Square-tailed / Gabon & Slender-tailed Nightjars 198

LAKE VICTORIA SPECIALS
Birds of the lakeside - Blue-headed Coucal, Swamp Flycatcher & Black-headed Gonolek 200
Sunbird & weavers - Red-chested Sunbird & Grosbeak & Slender-billed Weavers 202
Lakeside weavers - Northern Brown-throated, Golden-backed & Yellow-backed Weavers 204
Terns & gull - Whiskered & White-winged Black Terns & Grey-headed Gull 206
Cormorants & small plovers - Reed & Great Cormorants & White-fronted & Common Ringed Plovers 208

Further reading & useful resources210
Acknowledgements 211
Photographic credits 212
Scientific names of the bird species included in this book 213
Index 217
Short Index inside back cover

Editorial Reviews

"The bird you see in the field is often exactly what you find in the book, and equally clear is its habitat, such as a thorny acacia branch or a forest floor littered with dead leaves. Kennedy also avoids using intimidating jargon to describe bird species, opting instead to keep the tone of his descriptions light hearted while still being informative. . . . The overwhelming majority of photographs are of exceptionally high quality."—-Derek Kverno, Birding in Tanzania

"Essential book if you are heading for the Serengeti. . . . Excellent."—-Derek Moore, Derek Bird Brain

"Birds of the Serengeti: And Ngorongoro Conservation Area by Adam Scott Kennedy may be the best birding book available covering the general safari region for northwestern Tanzania and southern Kenya. Filled with firsthand accounts, excellent photographs, and broken down into chapters by habitats, Birds of the Serengeti: And Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the guidebook for the broader non-scientific community."—-Gabriel Thoumi, MongaBay.com

From the Publisher

"[A]n attractive and handy layout, and informative and accessible text that discusses interesting behaviors and provides insights into species background. Rich in detail, this indispensable volume uses a habitat-based approach, making it simple for everyone—from the novice to the experienced birdwatcher—to locate diverse birds in this fascinating area of the world."

BASE

"I'd like to praise the overall visual effect of the Birds of the Serengeti. The overwhelming majority of photographs are of exceptionally high quality, undoubtedly shot with the finest equipment, but also indicative of a high level of skill."

Birding Tanzania Blog