Olive Thrush… one of the common Thrush’s..

Olive Thrush (Turdus olivaceus)

One of the most common members of the thrush family (Turdidae). It occurs in east African highlands from Eritrea and Ethiopia in north to the Cape of Good Hope in south.

The female builds a cup nest, typically 2 to 9 m above the ground in a tree or hedge. The 1–3 (usually 2) eggs are incubated solely by the female for 14–15 days to hatching, and the chicks fledge in another 16 days.

The Karoo Thrush (Turdus smithi) is said to be a sub-specie of this bird and I have posted on it before (to see post CLICK HERE), and now that is enough of the scientific stuff…

This bird has the most beautiful singing voice and I’m going to try and add a YouTube recording… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTYjKzykq6g  sorry you’ll have to click on the link, but please do, it is beautiful…

And you must remember my singing Ground scraper Thrush, that pair of singers.?? (to see post CLICK HERE) 

Now for my photos of the Olive Thrush…..

Karoo Thrush..

Karoo Thrush (Turdus smithi)

This medium sized bird has a length of about 24 cm. The Karoo thrush is considered a subspecies of Olive Thrush (Turdus olivaceus) and is even known to hybridise with it.

It differs from the Olive Thrush by its longer, entirely orange bill, its longer wings, and its greyer flanks. It occurs in South Africa (Little Namaqualand, Karoo and Northern Cape).

The female builds a cup nest, between 2 to 9 m above the ground. The 1–3 (usually 2) eggs are incubated solely by the female for 14–15 days to hatching, and the chicks fledge in another 16 days.

The male’s song is a mix of fluted, whistled and trilled phrases, and now a few photos….

Little Egret.. hallo there..

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

The Little Egret is a small white heron and is very similar Snowy Egret, in fact I don’t know how these experts tell them apart. The Snowy is slightly smaller and the yellow around the eye extends down to the beak..

The little Egret is an all white bird with a long beak and black around it’s yellow eye. It looks as though it is wearing yellow socks, which you can clearly see in my photos. It grows to approx. 55–65 cm long with an 88–106 cm wingspan.

Little Egrets eat fish, insects, amphibians, crustaceans, and reptiles. Stalking their prey in shallow water, they often run wings up or jump in the air to land near the small fish. They will also stand still and wait for their prey to venture close enough to strike.

They nest in colonies, laying 3 or more eggs and both parents are involved in raising the young that leave the nest after approx. 6 to 7 weeks.

A few Photos I’ve just captured… played “hooky” from my office and went to a bird hide I love.. got a quick 130 photos of which 60 are OK.. just shows one shouldn’t sneak off…..

 

White-backed Mousebird

White-backed Mousebird (Colius colius)

This little bird is one of a fairly large group of birds… It is found in western and central regions of southern Africa from Namibia and southern Botswana eastwards to Central Transvaal and the eastern Cape.

This bird is about 34 cm (13 inches) long, with the tail comprising approximately half the length. When handling mousebirds the tail should be avoided, as the long tail feathers come out easily, suggesting like a lizard that it might be a sacrificial defence mechanism.

This little fellow I capture in the Kalahari and the last photo, although not good, just has a good look about it…

The Arm Wrestling of the Blue Wildebeest…

Just a set of photos… wordless Bulldog day…