Magnificent Wedge-tailed Eagles
4 Comments »14th May, 2012; Category: Bird Behaviour, Eagles Hawks and Kites, Magpies and Currawongs, Ravens and Crows
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Last week I travelled from home in Murray Bridge to attend a meeting in Adelaide. I take the South-eastern Freeway and this takes me through the Adelaide Hills. I generally take quite an interest in the birds seen along the way, noting that more and more frequently I am seeing the wonderful Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos flying overhead.
On this occasion, however, I saw two – perhaps a pair – of Wedge-tailed Eagles soaring low over the freeway. This magnificent species – Australia’s largest eagle – is widespread throughout the country without being very common anywhere.
As is quite usual both birds were being harassed by other species, including Australian Magpies and Little Ravens. While they might be lovely birds, they are generally not loved birds; at least, not in the bird kingdom.
Fantailed Raven, Ethiopia
Fan-tailed Raven, Ethiopia
On my visit to Ethiopia late last year I saw many crows and ravens, especially the very common Pied Crow. The species I feature today, the Fan-tailed Raven, I saw only on one occasion. We had driven north about 100km from Addis Ababa to Portuguese Bridge. I managed to get a few good photos and added several species to my list.
The Fan-tailed Raven certainly has a very descriptive name, and to see them soaring on thermals overhead the fanned out tail helps considerably in the identification process. You can see this in the photo below.
This species is widespread throughout north eastern Africa and in parts of the Sahara. It feeds on insects and other invertebrates, food scraps, fruit, carrion and even grain.
Further reading:
Fan-tailed Raven, Ethiopia
Fan-tailed Raven, Ethiopia
Thick-billed Ravens, Addis Ababa
Thick-billed Ravens, Addis Ababa
One of the bird species I recorded on only a few occasions during my two week stay in Ethiopia last December was the Thick-billed Raven. Only once did I manage to get a few photos of this species, shown here today on this post. They were very easily distinguished from the locally common Pied Crows by being almost completely black except for a white patch on the nape. They are considerably bigger than the Pied Crow too. Their thick bill is hard to miss and is diagnostic.
Along with the Common Raven, they are the largest in the corvid family of birds (click here for a definition). They are found only in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia). Their diet is quite varied, and being omnivorous they will eat insects, beetles, carrion, meat scraps and a range of human foods.
Thick-billed Ravens, Addis Ababa
Pied Crows, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2 Comments »14th February, 2012; Category: Eagles Hawks and Kites, Non-Australian birds, Ravens and Crows
Pied Crows, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Pied Crows are one of the common birds you can see on a visit to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. I saw many on my visit there late last year to visit my daughter who was teaching at an international school in the capital.
The birds shown in this set of photos were feeding on the school oval. The grass had just been watered and I suspect that this stirred up quite a deal of insect activity. In the last photo you can see a Yellow-billed Kite, a species that is also very common in and around the city. Every day during our 2 week visit I saw dozens of this species of kite. Sometimes the sky was filled with 50 – 100 of them soaring over the school and the surrounding suburb.
Further reading:
Pied Crows, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Pied Crows, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Yellow-billed Kite and Pied Crows, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Pied Crows, Ethiopia
Pied Crow, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
During our visit to Ethiopia last December the common corvid I observed everywhere was the Pied Crow (Corvis albus) shown in today’s photos. In the grounds of the school where my daughter was teaching they were very common, sometimes numbering 30 – 50 in the gardens, on the oval or flying noisily overhead. They were not slow at picking through food scraps left by the students and were very tame, often allowing me to approach to within a metre or two.
Pied Crow, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Pied Crows are found in a range of habitats from urban, farming, grasslands and woodlands as well as along lakes and rivers. It is found throughout Ethiopia as well as Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania and in parts of neighbouring countries. In fact, it is found in most areas south of the Sahara throughout southern Africa, making it the most widespread of any crow or raven in Africa.
For my Australian readers, the Pied Crow is about the same size as the Little Raven and Little Crow, but smaller than the Australian Raven. Its call is just as mournful but harsher and throatier than our Little Raven.
Pied Crow, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Pied Crow, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Pied Crow, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia