Hooded Kingfisher

The brown-hooded kingfisher (Halcyon albiventris) is a species of bird in the subfamily Halcyoninae, the tree kingfishers. It has a brown head and blackish and turquoise wings. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, living in woodland, scrubland, forest edges, and also suburban areas. The brown-hooded kingfisher is about 22 cm (8.7 in) long.The head is brown, with blackish streaks. There is a broad buffy collar above the brownish-black mantle. The wing coverts are mostly brownish-black, and the secondary flight feathers are turquoise. The rump is azure-blue. The chin is white, the breast is tawny with some dark streaks, and the belly is buffy. The beak is red, tipped brown, the legs are carmine, and the eyes are dark brown. The female has dark brown upperparts, and its underparts are more streaked than the male. The juvenile bird is duller, with scalloped whitish underparts. The subspecies differ in shade and streaking.Distribution and habitat This kingfisher is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Gabon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.[1][6] It occurs below 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in elevation, living in woodland, grassland with trees, scrubland, forest edge, and also cultivations, parks and gardens.[7] It sometimes occurs near water, and can adapt to suburban habitats.[8] Most populations do not migrate, but there is evidence of seasonal movements in some areas.Behaviour This kingfisher is generally seen alone or in pairs.[8] It usually forages on the ground, mainly feeding on insects, and also eating scorpions, reptiles, small birds, rodents and fishes.[7] Eating snakes and lizards as long as 25 cm (9.8 in) has been reported.[7][9] The song, given while vibrating the wings, is a tiiiu or ki-ti-ti-ti trill, and a sharp cheerit is given when alarmed. The breeding season is mainly between September and April. A burrow nest is dug in a river bank, gully or road cutting. The family stays together for a few weeks after breeding.

Vulture

This large vulture is of a creamy-buff colour, with contrasting dark flight- and tail-feathers. The adult is paler than the juvenile, and its underwing coverts can appear almost white at a distance. The head and neck are near-naked. The eyes are yellowish, and the bill is black. Juveniles and immatures are generally darker and more streaked, with brown to orange eyes and red neck.The average length of adult birds is about 96–115 cm (38–45 in) with a wingspan of 2.26–2.6 m (7.4–8.5 ft) and a body weight of 7–11 kg (15–24 lb). The two prominent bare skin patches at the base of the neck, also found in the white-backed vulture, are thought to be temperature sensors and used for detecting the presence of thermals. The species is among the largest raptors in Africa, next to the lappet-faced vulture. After the Himalayan griffon vulture and the cinereous vulture, the Cape vulture is the third largest Old World vulture. The Cape vulture has been declining steadily since at least the 1980s, when it was first categorized as Threatened. Between 1992 and 2007 the species declined by 60-70%[7] in South Africa alone. It was later upgraded to Vulnerable and, in 2015, to Endangered. As of 2013, estimates of total population size assume about 4,700 pairs or 9,400 mature individuals.[1]The species is considered to be impacted by a large number of threats. A decrease in the amount of large carrion (particularly during nesting), poisoning (targeted or inadvertent), electrocution or collision with cables on electricity pylons (the most common cause of death in ringed birds[5]), loss of foraging habitat, and unsustainable harvesting for traditional uses are thought to be the most important factors.[1] A source of poisoning specific to many vultures, including the Cape vulture, is the drug Diclofenac and related compounds, which is used to treat arthritis in cattle, and which leads to kidney failure in vultures who consume carcasses of treated cattle.

Vulture