The Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) is a large wetlands bird. It is a wader and a shore or coastal bird. It is the only red coastal bird in the world.
The Scarlet Ibis is scarlet red. Its wingtips often have black or dark blue markings. It has a long downward-curved red beak, which is darker towards the tip. Its feet are red. Its neck and legs are long, and they are out-stretched when they fly.
What is the difference between the Asian Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos daphanea), the Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), and the Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis)?
The Asian Golden Eagle, the Eastern Imperial Eagle, and the Steppe Eagle are all large birds of prey, raptors, and accipiters from the Northern Hemisphere.
The Asian Golden Eagle, the Eastern Imperial Eagle, and the Steppe Eagle all have a dark-grey or black-tipped sharply down-turned beak with a yellow cere (the hard substance at the top of the beak).
The difference between them is mainly due to size, colour, and flight.
The Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) is a large bird of prey, a raptor, and accipiter (the family of eagles).
The Steppe Eagle is brown with blackish flight feathers and a blackish tail. It has banded white and brown flight feathers. It has brown eyes, and a black sharply down-turned beak with a yellow cere.
The Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) is a large South American bird in the Vulture family. It is a raptor and bird of prey.
The Andean Condor is black with a white ruff (collar) around its neck. Its face and neck are pinkish-red and nearly bald. Females have a bald blackish-red head and neck. It has a flattened head. Males have a dark carbuncle or comb on their head. It has white feathers on its wings. Its pale cream beak is strong with a slightly downward-curved hook, and its eyes are orange-brown. It has long sharp talons on its feet to grip its prey.
The Silvery-Cheeked Hornbill (Bycanistes brevis) is a large African bird with a huge beak.
The Silvery-Cheeked Hornbill has iridescent black feathers with a silvery-grey head, and silvery spots on its cheeks. It has a white rump, white lower back, and white tips on its tail feathers. It has a large cream-coloured casque (bony growth) on its beak. It has dark eyes, and females have red skin around their eyes.
What is the difference between the African hornbills: Grey Hornbill, Red-Billed Hornbill, and Von der Decken’s Hornbill?
The Grey Hornbill (Tockus nasutus), the Red-Billed Hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus), and the Von der Decken’s Hornbill (Tockus deckeni) are all large African birds with a large downward curved beak.
The Grey Hornbill and the Red-Billed Hornbill are grey-brown, with black regions, whereas the Von der Decken’s Hornbill is black and white.
The male Grey Hornbill has a black beak with a cream patch on its maxilla (upper beak), and narrow pale lines on its mandible (bottom beak). The female Grey Hornbill has a large black beak with a dark red beak tip, with half of the maxilla (upper beak) a cream-yellow colour.
The Red-Billed Hornbill has an all-red beak. The male Von der Decken’s Hornbill has a large downward curved two-toned red and ivory-cream beak with a black tip. The female Von der Decken’s Hornbill has a large all-black beak.
The Von der Decken’s Hornbill (Tockus deckeni) is a large big-beaked African bird.
The Von der Decken’s Hornbill has a black and white body. Its wings and upper tail feathers are black, and it nape, chest, belly, and under tail feathers are white. It has a black patch around its eyes. It has small red cheek patches. The male has a large downward curved two-toned red and ivory-cream beak with a black tip. The female has a large all-black beak.
The African Grey Hornbill (Tockus nasutus) is a large big-beaked African bird.
The African Grey Hornbill has a grey-brown body with a long white stripe from its eye to the back of its neck (nape), and another white stripe down the centre of its back. It has brown wings edged in white. Its throat and chest are pale grey-brown, and its belly is white.
The male has a large downward curved black beak with a cream patch on its maxilla (upper beak), and narrow pale lines on its mandible (bottom beak). The female has a large black beak with a dark red beak tip, and half of the maxilla (upper beak) is a cream-yellow colour.
The Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) is a large freshwater waterbird.
The Dalmatian Pelican has mainly silvery-white feathers on its body, with curly feathers on the back of its head. It has a large orange-red lower mandible (jaw) and a yellow upper mandible, with a large pouch. It has yellow to purple-blue eye-rings.
The Spot-Billed Pelican (Pelecanus philippensis) is a large freshwater waterbird. It is also called the Grey Pelican.
The Spot-Billed Pelican is mainly white, with a grey crest and grey back of neck. It has a brownish tail. The feathers on the back of its neck are curly. Its pouch is pinkish-purple with large pale spots. It is also spotted on the sides of its upper mandible (jaw). It has a yellow-orange tip on its beak. It looks similar to the Dalmatian Pelican.
The Holub’s Golden Weaver (Plocus xanthops) is an African bird, which is also called the African Golden Weaver.
The Holub’s Golden Weaver is greenish-golden-yellow with pale-yellow eyes and a large black beak. Its upperparts and tail are greenish-yellow to golden-olive. The male has orange on its throat and upper chest.
The Razorfish (Aeoliscus strigatus) is a small reef marine (saltwater) fish. It always swims in a vertical (head down) position.
The Razorfish is a long, thin fish, with reduced, transparent fins. The ridge on its back is covered with protective bony plates, which also cover its tail, ending with a sharp spine. Its mouth is a sharp beak. It has a black-brown band, or stripe, along the length of its body, which also goes across its eyes. The colour of its body can vary, depending upon its habitat, changing colour to camouflage itself. However, mostly it is silver.
The Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) is a large, water bird, living in wetlands.
The Australian Pelican is mostly white, with black wings. It has a white panel on the upper wing and a white V-shape on its back. It has a very large pale-pink beak with a pale-pink pouch. Its eye-ring is pale-yellow. Its eye-ring turns yellow-orange, and the beak changes colour to blue, pink, or red, in the breeding season. Its beak has a small hook at the tip. Its eyes are brown and yellow and its feet are blue-grey, with four webbed toes.
The White-Throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis fusca)is an Asian bird, specifically from west India and Sri Lanka. Other species are widespread in Asia, from Turkey to the Philippines.
The White-Throated Kingfisher has a bright blue back, wings, and tail. Its head, shoulders, sides, and lower belly are chestnut-coloured. Its throat and chest are white. It has a very large bright red beak and bright red legs. It has short, rounded wings.
The Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina) is a medium-sized Australian bird. It looks like a crow, but it is only distantly related to crows and ravens.
The Pied Currawong is black with white bars on its wings and tail. It has booted feet (feathers on its legs). It has a hooked tip on its long, sharply-pointed beak. It has bright yellow eyes.
The Golden Palm Weaver (Ploceus bojeri) is a small Africa bird. It is in the Ploceidae family.
The Golden Palm Weaver is bright yellow with pale light-brown streaks on its wings. It has a bright golden face with a thick short black beak. Its eyes are dark and its legs are pink.
The Bateleur Eagle (Terathopius ecaudatus) is a large African bird. It is a raptor and an accipiter (birds with powerful hooked beaks and powerful sharp talons).
The Bateleur Eagle is dark-black with a short, chestnut-coloured tail. It has extremely long, pointed wings that are white underneath. It has grey or brown shoulders, and a chestnut back. It has a yellow beak and a brilliant bare red face and base of bill (called the cere). It has an enormous head. Its legs are short and bright red.
What is the difference between the Australasian Swamphen and the Western Swamphen?
The Australasian Swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus) and the Western Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) are both small, chicken-sized, wetland birds. Swamphen is pronounced Swamp Hen.
The Australasian Swamphen and the Western Swamphen both have a red frontal shield above their thick red beak.
Continue reading “Australasian Swamphen and Western Swamphen: what’s the difference?”
The Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) is a large African wetlands bird.
The Great White Pelican is white with grey back feathers, a pink beak with a large yellow pouch, dark eyes with a white eye-ring, and pink legs. It has a bare face with no feathers. On the tip of its beak is a red knob. Its flight feathers are black.
The Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa) is a medium-sized bird in the Rail family.
The Dusky Moorhen is dark grey-black with brown shades, with white under its tail. It has a red frontal shield above its yellow-tipped red beak. It has orange-yellow legs, with no webbing between its four toes. It has orange-brown eyes.