Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Ethiopia
Blue-breasted Bee-eaters, Ethiopia
One of my favourite Australian birds would have to be the Rainbow Bee-eater (click here for a photo). They are regular spring and summer visitors to our garden and even occasionally breed on our 5 acre block of land. When I visited Nepal a few years ago I had a brief glimpse of the Blue-bearded Bee-eater and the Green Bee-eater while visiting Chitwan National Park in the southern part of the country.
Before travelling to Africa late last year I knew that several species of bee-eaters could be seen there, so I hoped that I would get good views of at least one species. I was rewarded with not only a good sighting but several photos as well. The Blue-breasted Bee-eater shown in today’s photos is every part as spectacular as the other species I had already seen. The two birds sat obligingly on a branch in full view and in full sunlight until I had some shots. They then continued on hawking for insects.
These birds were seen at the locality known as Portuguese Bridge, about 110km north of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
Further reading:
Blue-breasted Bee-eaters, Ethiopia
Blue-breasted Bee-eaters, Ethiopia
Green Peafowl, Adelaide Zoo
Green Peafowl at Adelaide Zoo
One of the more spectacular displays by any bird species would have to be that of the male (peacock) of the Indian Peafowl. A closely related species is the Green Peafowl, shown in the photos on this post. I took these photos in a walk through aviary at the Adelaide Zoo late last year. The male decided I wanted some beautiful photos of his amazing plumage and displayed it for my benefit.
The Indian Peafowl is more commonly known as a peacock, but that name should be reserved for only the male. It is native to the Indian sub-continent where I was able to see it in its natural habitat in the forest area of Royal Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal. You can read about my experiences on Trevor’s Travels. The Green Peafowl, however, is native to south east Asia and could well be extinct on the Indian sub-continent. Unlike the Indian Peafowl, the male and female Green Peafowl are very similar in the colours of their plumage.
The Indian Peafowl has been introduced into many countries and is commonly kept in zoos, private collections, parks and gardens. In some places there are semi-feral populations, including King and Flinders Islands in Tasmania, and Kangaroo Island here in South Australia.
Green Peafowl at Adelaide Zoo
Green Peafowl at Adelaide Zoo
National birds from around the world
Ever wondered what the national bird of Nepal is? Or the national bird of Chile?
Wonder no more.
Someone has made a long list on Wikipedia of all the countries that have a national bird. It also has a list of the official birds of some states or territories of some countries.
Link: A list of National Birds
By the way, the national bird of Nepal is the Himalayan Monal, a large pheasant found in the mountainous regions. This is one species I was pleased to see on my trip to the area in 2006. You can read about it here and here.
New bird found in Nepal
In January 2006 I spent nearly four weeks in Nepal. Part of this time was spent on a trek towards Mt Everest. After that I visited Chitwan National Park. The remainder of the time was spent in and around Kathmandu. While I didn’t deliberately visit Nepal to go birding, I did get quite a nice list of new birds to add to my life list. I was pleased to actually see a number of “target birds” (i.e. birds I really wanted to see). One I especially enjoyed seeing was the Himalayan Monal.
Himalayan Monal, Nepal
More recently I was intrigued to read that a new bird has recently been found in Nepal. You can read about it here. It is a sub-species of the Rufous-vented Prinia. This new bird will be known as the Nepal Rufous-vented Prinia.
Further reading:
- Trevor’s Travels – read all about my adventures in Nepal on my Travel Blog.
Near the village of Monjo, Nepal