Birds in Zambia

Ciconiiformes

Birds are a very large family of animals, so many, that they are broken down into groups by order, according to the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy- a new and increasingly approved taxonomy based on DNA analysis, as opposed to the older taxonomy, which was more based on appearance, geography, and behavior.

The African Fish-Eagle is closely related to the American Bald Eagle, which is also a fish-eagle.

This beautiful bird of prey was sitting quietly on a branch just across a pond in South Luangwa National Park. They stay fairly near water, since they fish to make a living.

Interestingly, if the fish is too big, the bird will drag it to shore to eat, rather than fly back to it's nest. If it is very large, it will land in the water and use its wings to sort of row to shore.

This fish-eagle was in the Luangwa River, at Wildlife Camp, where we stayed. He landed in the river opposite where I was standing, so this is zoomed in quite a bit.

The African Jacana is a wading bird, subsisting off insects near the water and floating on the surface of the water, or on floating debris.

The African Openbill Stork is interesting in that the two halves of the bill only meet at the base and the tip- leaving a gap in between. This beautiful specimen was looking for food (don't they all?) in South Luangwa National Park, in the same algae-covered pond we spotted many other birds and a baby crocodile.

I'm not sure if this is the same one, or it's mate. It was at the same algae-covered pond in South Luangwa, it's legs covered with algae from wading, looking for it's food.

Named for it's spoon-shaped bill, it is fairly common in wet, marshy areas. It uses the wide bill to scoop small fish and frogs and other creatures. It nests in nearby trees or reedbeds and is related to the Ibis.

We spotted this one inside South Luangwa National Park.

The black-headed heron was also fairly common, near water. This one was spotted along the Luangwa River, just on the edge of Wildlife Camp. He walked quite a distance, allowing me to get quite a few pictures of him from my tripod-mounted camera.

It is a wading bird, and uses it's long bill to spear fish and frogs. It will also hunt away from water in search of small mammals.

This is the same black-headed heron as above, just after he took off. He was on my side of the river (hence the good picture above), but as he flew away, attempts to track him while taking the picture added some blur.

The Blacksmith Plover, or Lapwing, occurs broadly from Kenya and on into southern Africa.

They are a wetlands bird, and their range has expanded greatly with farming- as dams were built and areas of standing water increased. In doing so, their aggressive behavior has displaced other wading birds.

The Great Egret is another large wading bird, related to the herons. It will also spear small fish and frogs with it's very sharp bill. They are common in Africa and Europe.

This one was photographed in South Luangwa National Park.

This egret was near a large colony of Crowned Cranes, and was near the archaeological dig site, outside of the national park.

The grey heron is similar to the black-headed heron- it is a wading bird, staying close to marshland and spearing fish and frogs with it's sharp bill.

We spotted this guy just outside South Luangwa National Park in a marshy area just off the road to Wildlife Camp.

The Sacred Ibis was revered by the ancient Egyptians- it was used to represent the god Thoth, and was often mummified along with the kings. Interestingly, they no longer exist in Egypt, but do in other parts of Africa and were introduced in Europe, where they survive winters by foraging through garbage dumps.

They live in marshy areas, and are also wading birds that feed on fish, frogs, insects and other small water creatures.

These were spotted in a pond in South Luangwa National Park.

The White-Crowned Lapwing is also called a Plover, though it is not actually a plover. It has striking features- strong striping on the side, and yellow lappets descending from it's bill.

We spotted this one in the sand on the banks of an island in the Zambezi River, near Victoria Falls.

Here's a somewhat blurrier front view of the same bird showing the lappets. We were in a moving boat (a sunset cruise on the river), so it was hard to get a stable shot.

The White-Headed vulture is magnificent in flight. The image stabilization on my camera worked well enough (and the light was bright enough) to pull out very good detail, considering it was soaring quite high overhead.

The bird on the left is a female, as on a male, the white belly extends out about a third of the way into the wings.

The bird below is a juvenile, as it's belly has not turned white yet.

We spotted these inside South Luangwa National Park.

The Yellow-billed Stork is another of the wading birds. They eat frogs, fish, insects, and small birds and mammals.

They lack a voice and communicate by clacking their bills together.