GAME: name that bird!

[Tanya_in_Kenya]

I'll jump in with something completely different.....what's this?

 

[Bugs]

Can it be confused with this??

 

[Bugs]

Or Maybe this?

 

[Tanya_in_Kenya]

Not the first picture - completely different type of bird and different environment...

 

 

Possibly could be confused with the second which is VERY similar! (Where was this second image photographed, out of interest? In a dry country environment or near water? There is a clue here too by the way!)

[Guest John Milbank]

Looks like a thick-knee. We have one in Oz called a bush thick-knee or bush stone-curlew.

[Tanya_in_Kenya]

Looks like a thick-knee. We have one in Oz called a bush thick-knee or bush stone-curlew.

 

Thick-knee is right....but that's not enough - we need the specific kind!

 

(This bird is also known by another name, just to confuse the issue, but either one will do, as long as it's the full name....)

[Guest John Milbank]

Water thick-knee Burhinus vermiculatus

[Bugs]

I could be wrong.

We call this bird with the big eye a dikkop. I am not sure if I am mistaken.

The other one is much bigger and is a Khoraan.

Do you call this a water dikkop?

 

The photo? where did I take it? In deep dark Africa while stalking through the bird park in Cape Town.

[Tanya_in_Kenya]

John's right - so is Dikdik: This is a Water Thick-knee a.k.a. Water Dikkop .... over to you, chaps!

[Guest John Milbank]

You go first, Dikdik. I've already had one illegal go

[Bugs]

I was going to post a water dikkop but I will post this one. I am not joking. I was just about to post the dikkop and tanya did it for me!!! How did that happen?

 

 

[Game Warden]

Dikdik, it just goes to show how in tune we all are here...

[Tanya_in_Kenya]

Now this is a tough one! Looks like a seabird to me....not my forte....I hope it's a South African bird, then I have an excuse for not knowing it straight away (knowing my luck, it won't be!)

[predator]

looks like an Oystercatcher to me but no idea what sort (not even certain it is an oystercatcher)

[Tanya_in_Kenya]

I thought Oystercatcher too, but the only one I know is the Eurasian which has a white chest - so I haven't got a clue - I'm bowing out of this one and looking forward to hearing what it is....

[Bugs]

How do you catch an oyster??? Stalk up to it? Chase it round and trip it up then grab it by the throat?

[Tanya_in_Kenya]

How do you catch an oyster??? Stalk up to it? Chase it round and trip it up then grab it by the throat?

 

I believe so!

[Nyamera]

Yellow-eyed oystercatcher?

[Bugs]

I must be honest. I thought it was a black oyster catcher, but when I checked in the book the black oystercatcher has a red beak and is red around the eyes. So I was hoping someone would help me here, as the book does not have one with a yellow beak.

 

And, No! I did not photoshop the beak yellow.

 

I guess We should give this to Nyamera. Is there a yellow eyed oyster catcher??

 

I promise I will have the answer for you shortly.

[predator]

It looks like the african black oystercatcher except the beak is the wrong colour. Cant see what else it can be though as everything else matches perfectly.

[Jochen]

The oystercatcher I know is the Eurasian one. That one's lower parts are whitish. But is DOES have a yellow beak and a red eye AFAIK.

 

Could this be a juvenile? Or some kind of dimorphic species?

 

Or are you pulling our leg, DikDik? Is it from Africa? (as it resembles most the Sooty Oystercatcher, but that one's from Australia).

[Guest John Milbank]

How do you catch an oyster??? Stalk up to it? Chase it round and trip it up then grab it by the throat?

 

 

Aim carefully and shell it

[Guest nyama]

African black oystercatcher.

 

Illustrations in most field guides show this bird with red/dark-red bill and eye-ring, but in the texts it is described as having a "bright orange bill and eye-ring" (Sinclair/Ryan) or "orange-red" bill and eye-ring (Roberts).

[Guest John Milbank]

I think nyama's right. I can't find another oystercatcher to match, and it's certainly not an escapee from Australia.

[Bugs]

I am sorry. When I took the picture I was so sure it was an African black Oystercactcher, but to be sure I tought I would check the book and to my surprise I thought I had found a new specie.

 

But no such luck. Its beak will go red later.

 

We didnt waste time we actually learned something!!! Who was first to say African Black oyster catcher, or who has another bird they are not sure of?!!