Yellow-billed Kite, Ethiopia
Yellow-billed Kite, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
On my recent trip to Ethiopia I had the opportunity to spend quite a few hours birds in the grounds of the international school where my daughter was teaching. She lived on the campus and we were able to stay with her in her apartment. The school campus was quite large and included a football ground (soccer) and a small forest of eucalyptus trees.
By far the most obvious birds visiting the school were the Yellow-billed Kites. At first I thought that they were Black Kites as we have them in large numbers here in Australia. The Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius) is regarded as a sub-species of the Black Kite which also occurs in Ethiopia. The one shown in the photo above does not appear to have a yellow beak, so it is almost certainly a juvenile bird.
The kites were in abundance every day both on the school football ground and soaring overhead. Sometimes I could see 20 – 30 soaring on high and just as many low over the oval or actually on the ground.
This was the first of many “lifers” I saw on my trip. (“Lifers” = bird species seen for the very first time and so eligible to go on one’s “life list“. )
Yellow-billed Kite, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
It must have been extraordinary to see so many large birds all at once. Great to see the first of your photos from the trip, I’m looking forward to seeing them.
It certainly was amazing, Louise. And this is the first of many photos taken over the 6 weeks we were away. Tune in each day for more.
As for general scenery photos, you’ll have to go to another site of mine, Trevor’s Travels. Go to the very bottom of any page here and click on the link. You’ll also see links to my wife’s site about Australian plants, and my daughter Rose’s travel site.
[…] which I’ve seen before – or so I thought. It turns out the local birds are a sub species called Yellow-billed Kites (click here for photos). Another one for the […]