Tuesday 24 November 2015

Garden Birds in South Africa with #AnimalTales

These are the nests built by the Weaver bird of which there are 57 different varieties and they are related to the Finch. Constructed by the male who hangs down from the bottom fluffing his feathers to attract a female for breeding. males have several different partners and typically build up to 25 nests over the breeding season from September to January. The design of the nests prevents invaders, such as the cuckoo, from leaving their eggs there for the female to hatch.

They are common in most South African gardens that I've lived in or visited.





 Southern masked weaver bird



While I was visiting a friend over a weekend we just sat in her garden and listened to the variety of birds and attempted to identify them with an app on my iPhone, we weren't too successful and I didn't have the right lens on me to capture too many photos I could use on here, but I did manage to capture these photos of a Brown Headed Kingfisher and an Eastern yellow-billed Hornbill.











11 comments:

  1. Those weaver nests are very hard work - and then the girls just tore them down time and time again until it seems after the 100th one they are happy to use it

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    1. i sat for ages watching one attempt to build one then he gave up and flew off

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  2. What amazing nests! 25 nests is a lot to build.

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  3. They are beautiful - such a labour of love!

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  4. That little kingfisher is beautiful but that hornbill is something else! What a character.

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    1. the hornbills have become quite aggressive when you see them in tourist areas, as people insist on feeding them

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  5. Those weaver nests are just stunning - so much effort to create and all with just a beak and no arms! Amazing. Lovely to see so many different South African birds and those are some pretty scary beaks! Thank you for this post and for being such a great supporter of #AnimalTales.

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