BIRDING
IN NAMIBIA

Introduction: Speckled pigeons (Columba guinea) or rock pigeons can be found in a variety of habitats including urban and rural areas, mountains, cliffs, rocky gorges and boulder-strewn hills. Flocks of up to 20 are not uncommon and roosting on cliff ledges, on buildings and in caves as well as on trees is a behavioural feature

Size: 33cm. 

Weight: 350g.

Introduction: The spotted thick-knee (Burhinus capensis) favours stony, open habitats such as grassland and savannah, hills and semi-desert. They are active mostly at night, roosting in grassy areas

Size: 43cm.

Weight: Up to 620g.

Introduction: Rosy-faced lovebirds (Agapornis roseicollis) prefer open and wooded country which includes semi-desert shrub lands, cultivated lands and riparian woodlands, environments that are dependable on water. A noisy and gregarious bird, they congregate small flocks of up to 20. Roosts in sociable weavers nest

Size: 18cm.

Weight: 55g.

Introduction: African scops-owls (Otus scops-owl) inhabit arid savannah woodland especially mopane woodland and acacia parklands that extend along watercourses into grassland and desert. Absent from true desert and treeless grassland. Nocturnal but roosts by day tucked against a branch or tree-trunk. Emerges just after dark or late dusk, eyes wide open ready to hunt

Size: 18cm.

Weight: 65g.

Introduction: Short-toed rock-thrush (Monticola brevipes) inhabit mainly mountains (Monticola) with characteristic rocky outcrops, inselbergs, river valleys supporting scattered bushes and trees and also in towns and villages

Size: 18cm.

Weight: 60g.

Introduction: African red-eyed bulbul (Pycnonotus nigricans) can be observed in a wide range of habitats that include arid and semi-arid regions, as long as there is water and patches of trees and shrubs. This includes dry woodland, riverine bush and shrubby watercourses. They are a common visitor to gardens in drier regions of Namibia, usually grateful for a full bird bath to drink from

Size: 20cm.

Weight: 30g.

Introduction: Blue-cheeked bee-eaters (Merops persicus) prefer desert-edged habitats which include breeding in sandy and gravelly type waste grounds. They can also be seen in open lake shores with papyrus and reeds, coastal plains and wooded swamps. These bee-eaters are seldom far from water

Size: 26cm.

Tail streamers project a further 55mm.

Weight: 50g.

Introduction: The breeding behaviour of the southern brown-throated weaver (Ploceus xanthopterus) leads them to papyrus and reed beds. At other times they inhabit woodland, grassland and forest, in pairs or in small flocks of up to 20 birds

Size: 15cm.

Weight: 25g

Introduction: Malachite kingfishers (Alcedo cristata) depend on a specifically aquatic habitat which could include well-vegetated, slow-flowing rivers and streams, and in particular those waterways that do not have an overhanging tree canopy. They are also found on dams, coastal lagoons, tidal estuaries, sheltered shorelines, mangrove swamps, irrigation canals and sewage ponds. Wooded banks with nearby thickets and reed and papyrus marshes are also a favourite

Size: 14cm.

Weight: 17g.