Bird Identification

[nan]

ID please - the white eyebrow confuses me (but so do many simple things in life…)

Southern Shrike (Common Fiscal/Fiscal Shrike), arid west has a big eyebrow like yours, love them

[ExFmem]

Need help with this bird ID please - Kgalagadi

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Is this the same - Gabar Goshawk?

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Thank you nan for the Fiscal ID.
Any ID for my posting above that one please?

[Lisbeth]

I forgot to write that the first is a subadult Gabar Goshawk

The other one ...... It looks like a juv. Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk, but as such, it should have a pale eye. I think that it is one anyway

[Richprins]

Still waiting for experts! Will send on tomorrow?

[jonathan@familyhall]

Can anyone identify this species of vulture form Kenya or, more likely, Tanzania? It was taken by me in 1995 on old fashioned film, which I have now had digitised.

Thanks
Jonathan

[Lisbeth]

Jonathan

The black on the face and the back of the head

I hope that someone else can be more helpful

[Richprins]

Have sent on too!

Welcome here, Johnathan!

[Richprins]

A reply from Chris Patton!


Dear Bird enthusiasts,



One of your number has asked me to confirm the identities of birds on your Bird Identification thread…



I am commenting on the 4 images posted on page 8:

1. The odd looking fiscal

2. The first accipiter photo

3. The 2nd accipiter photo

4. The mystery vulture from East Africa



1. The bird is as one of the members has suggested, the Western race of the Common or Southern Fiscal… This is illustrated below in a screen shot from the Roberts Bird App.

q.jpg (13.32 KiB) Viewed 624 times

2. At first accipiter I agreed this bird is indeed an immature Gabar Goshawk… I again supply a screen shot to support the ID, but the more I consider the bird, the more I am wondering if it is not an immature Shikra (which I include below the Gabar screenshot), as the eye is more red than yellow… Ultimately an adult Gabar will have a dark eye, while the juvenile has a yellow eye (as per the image below), and as the juvenile ages the yellow must change to dark, and I suspect that is what is happening in the bird in question… Gabar is much commoner in Kgalagadi than Shikra, and that is still my gut sense… the legs are more orangey than yellow imo which supports my feeling for Gabar over Shikra, but I’m not totally convinced.

q1.jpg (17.18 KiB) Viewed 624 times

q2.jpg (23.02 KiB) Viewed 624 times

3. The 2nd accipiter is even more debatable… Lisbeth suggests it is an immature Pale Chanting Goshawk, and I agree partly that its form, with those elongated legs does suggest it could be that species… if we could see the bird in question in real life we would know immediately on its size if it was SPcG or one of its smaller cousins… however as she also points out the eye colour is an issue, and I also feel the body shape is more Gabar or Shikra in appearance…,

Below is a screenshot of an immature SPcG for comparison…

q3.jpg (30.74 KiB) Viewed 624 times

4. The vulture is most curious. I have not been to either Kenya or Tanzania, so I have no first-hand experience of vultures there, but from some research it appears they have the same vultures we do, with Ruppell’s instead of a vagrant, being a resident species, and I tend to feel that this bird is an immature Ruppell’s as it shows the ruffed neck feathers that that species displays and some internet images of the immature RV have a resemblance to this bird… It could also be a hybrid bird, because we know from our experience with this species at our Cape Vulture colony in Blouberg that it can interbreed with other vultures in the gyps family… The Cinereous Vulture is another dark vulture with ruffed neck feathers, but its shape is more like a Lappet-faced and this bird appears more gyps (the griffon vultures of which our Cape and White-backed and the vagrant Ruppell’s are members, plus 5 other European or Asian species). Also, the only African records I can find for this bird are from northern African countries like Morocco where it is now extinct, and from west African countries like Gabon and Mauritania where birds have wandered from Spain… It could also be an aberrant bird showing a higher than normal degree of melanism to explain the black on the face, but still believe it is a Ruppell’s Vulture…



Cheers



Chris

[Lisbeth]

The photos don't show

Remember to preview your post, when you copy it from an e-mail, please.

[Richprins]

Yes, I was interrupted!