Birds of Kenya's Rift Valley

Kenya's Rift Valley includes four major national parks--Lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, Mount Longonot, and Hell's Gate--as well as many smaller areas that are outstanding for wildlife. Birds of Kenya's Rift Valley features the 320 bird species that are most likely to be encountered on safari in this world-famous region, which runs from Lake Baringo in the north to Lake Magadi in the south. Featuring over 500 stunning color photos, this beautiful guide breaks new ground with its eye-catching layout and easy-to-use format. The book follows a habitat-based approach and provides interesting information about the ecology and behaviors of each species. Birds of Kenya's Rift Valley avoids technical jargon in the species descriptions, which makes the guide easily accessible to anyone. With it, you will be identifying birds in no time.

• Stunning photos of 320 bird species
• Major plumage variations depicted
• Jargon-free text
• Helpful notes on what to look and listen for, behavior, and why some birds are so named

Autorentext
Adam Scott Kennedy has served as principal leader on birding holidays in Africa, South America, Europe, and New Zealand. With his wife, Vicki, he currently operates as a private safari guide, specializing in photographic and wildlife safaris in East Africa. Information on their tours and stock image library can be found at www.rawnaturephoto.com. He is the author of Birds of the Masai Mara (Princeton WILD Guides).

Inhalt

About this book 9
The geography of Kenya's Rift Valley 13
Lakes and marsh 14
Up in the air 16
Birds of prey 17
Grassland and open areas 18
Woodland, scrub & garden 20
Nightbirds 22
Maps of the Rift Valley 23

BIRDS OF LAKE AND MARSH
Pelicans - Great White and Pink-backed Pelicans 26
Darter and cormorants - African Darter and Reed and Great Cormorants 28
Egrets - Yellow-billed, Little and Great White Egrets 30
Small herons - Cattle Egret and Squacco and Striated Herons 32
Grey herons - Black-crowned Night-heron and Grey and Black-headed Herons 34
Dark herons and Hamerkop - Goliath and Purple Herons and Hamerkop 36
Dark storks - Abdim's, Black and African Open-billed Storks 38
White storks - Saddle-billed, White and Yellow-billed Storks 40
Spoonbill and Marabou - African Spoonbill and Marabou Stork 42
Flamingos - Greater and Lesser Flamingos 44
Ibises - Sacred, Glossy and Hadada Ibises 46
Crane and whistling ducks - Grey Crowned Crane and Fulvous and White-faced Whistling Ducks 48
Geese - Spur-winged and Egyptian Goose and Knob-billed Duck 50
Ducks: 1 - Cape, Hottentot and Red-billed Teal 52
Ducks: 2 - Southern Pochard, Northern Shoveler and Yellow-billed Duck 54
Grebe, coot and moorhen - Little Grebe, Red-knobbed Coot and Common Moorhen 56
Gallinule, crake and jacana - Purple Swamphen, Black Crake and African Jacana 58
Ruff, painted-snipe and snipe - Ruff, Greater Painted-snipe and Common Snipe 60
Avocet, stilt and godwit - Pied Avocet, Black-winged Stilt and Black-tailed Godwit 62
Thick-knees - Spotted, Water and Senegal Thick-knees 64
Small plovers - Chestnut-banded, Three-banded, Kittlitz's and Common Ringed Plovers 66
Sandpipers - Wood, Common and Green Sandpipers 68
Waders - Little Stint, Common Greenshank and Marsh Sandpiper 70
Plovers - Blacksmith, Crowned and Spur-winged Plovers 72
Plover and gull - African Wattled Plover and Grey-headed Gull 74
Terns - White-winged Black, Gull-billed and Whiskered Terns 76
Kingfishers - Malachite, Giant and Pied Kingfishers 78
Wagtails - Yellow, Mountain and African Pied Wagtails 80
UP IN THE AIR
Dark-rumped swifts - Mottled, African Palm, Alpine, Common and Nyanza Swifts 82
White-rumped swifts - Little, Horus and White-rumped Swifts 84
Resident swallows - Mosque , Red-rumped, Lesser Striped and Wire-tailed Swallows 86
Swallows and martins - Barn Swallow and Plain, Banded and Rock Martins 88

BIRD OF PREY
Vultures - Rüppell's, White-backed, Hooded and Lappet-faced Vultures 90
Vultures in flight - all species for comparison plus Verreaux's Eagle 92
Large pied eagles and buzzard - Martial and African Fish Eagles and Augur Buzzard 94
Large dark eagles - Verreaux's, Steppe and Tawny Eagles 96
Medium-sized brown raptors - Black Kite, Common Buzzard and Long-crested Eagle 98
Raptors in flight - all large species for comparison 100
Harriers - Pallid, Montagu's and Western Marsh Harriers 102
Goshawk, Bateleur and Harrier Hawk

• Dark Chanting Goshawk, Bateleur and African Harrier Hawk 104
  Small pale raptors - Gabar Goshawk, - African Black-shouldered Kite and Pygmy Falcon 106
  Falcons - Eurasian Hobby, Lanner Falcon and Common Kestrel 108

  BIRDS OF GRASSLAND AND OPEN AREAS
  Ostrich and Southern Ground Hornbill - Ostrich and Southern Ground Hornbill 110
  Bustard and gamebirds

• Black-bellied Bustard, Yellow-necked Spurfowl and Helmeted Guineafowl 112
  Coursers and plover - Heuglin's and Temminck's Coursers and Black-headed Plover 114
  Larks - Rufous-naped, Red-capped and Pink-breasted Larks 116
  Lark, pipit and longclaw - Fischer's Sparrow Lark, Grassland Pipit and Yellow-throated Longclaw 118
  Resident chats - Northern Anteater Chat and Capped and Abyssinian Wheatears 120
  Migrant chats - Northern and Pied Wheatears and Whinchat 122
  Crows - Cape Rook, Pied Crow and Fan-tailed Raven 124
  Widowbirds - Long-tailed and Red-collared Widowbirds 126
  Widowbird and bishops - Jackson's Widowbird and Northern Red and Yellow Bishops 128
  Cisticolas and Quailfinch - Winding, Stout and Desert Cisticolas and African Quailfinch 130

  BIRDS OF WOODS, SCRUB AND GARDEN
  Francolins - Scaly, Crested and Hildebrandt's Francolins 132
  Pigeons and doves - Laughing Dove and Speckled and African Olive Pigeons 134
  'Collared' doves - African Mourning, Red-eyed and Ring-necked Doves 136
  Namaqua and wood doves - Namaqua and Blue-spotted and Emerald-spotted Wood Doves 138
  Green pigeon and parrots - African Green Pigeon, Meyer's Parrot and hybrid lovebird 140
  Large cuckoos and relatives

• Red-chested Cuckoo, White-browed Coucal and White-bellied Go-away-bird 142

  BIRDS OF WOODLAND, SCRUB AND GARDEN (continued)
  Green cuckoos and wood-hoopoe - Klaas's and Diederik Cuckoos and Green Wood-hoopoe 144
  Hoopoe and mousebirds - Hoopoe and Blue-naped and Speckled Mousebirds 146
  Kingfishers - Striped, Woodland and Grey-headed Kingfishers 148
  Bee-eaters: 1 - White-throated, Blue-cheeked and Eurasian Bee-eaters 150
  Bee-eaters: 2 - White-fronted, Cinnamon-chested and Little Bee-eaters 152
  Rollers - Rufous-crowned, Lilac-breasted and Eurasian Rollers 154
  Hornbills: 1 - Von der Decken's, Jackson's and Red-billed Hornbills 156
  Hornbills: 2 - Hemprich's, Eastern Yellow-billed and African Grey Hornbills 158
  Barbets: 1 - Red-and-yellow, D'Arnaud's and Red-fronted Barbets 160
  Barbets: 2 - White-headed and Spot-flanked Barbets and Red-fronted Tinkerbird 162
  Honeyguides and woodpecker

• Lesser and Greater Honeyguides and African Grey Woodpecker 164
  Woodpeckers - Nubian, Cardinal and Bearded Woodpeckers 166
  Babblers - Black-lored, Arrow-marked and Brown Babblers and Rufous Chatterer 168
  Bulbul, thrush and scrub robin
• Common Bulbul, Spotted Palm Thrush and White-browed Scrub Robin 170
  Colourful chats - Common and Little Rock Thrushes and Mocking Cliff Chat 172
  Thrush and robin chats - Olive Thrush and White-browed and Cape Robin Chats 174
  Tchagras and Brubru - Brown-crowned and Three-streaked Tchagras and Brubru 176
  White-headed 'shrikes'
• Grey-crested and White Helmetshrikes and Northern White-crowned Shrike 178
  Shrikes - Red-backed Shrike and Grey-backed and Common Fiscals 180
  Oriole and bushshrikes
• Black-headed Oriole and Grey-headed and Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike 182
  Cuckooshrike, boubo…