Senegal has lovely, wondrous birds, and enough sky to fit them all in. On the
most mundane day you can expect to see hundred of whirling kites, crows, and
gulls, and when the wind is still the treetops are full of feathered friends of
all types.
Here are some notes from my field book.
Red Cheeked Cordon Bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus). Came by one day to visit our
bird feeder and stayed long enough to make quite a mess. Never saw him again!
Pied Crow (Corvus albus). These big guys are ubiquitous, noisy, and
aggressive, but they are a treat to watch! They're mean too: I've seen them
pick the carcass of a cat clean, and they have a thick bill that looks like it
could crack your skull if you just gave them a reason to do it. Just pass over
the french fry and step back slowly, OK pal?
A mystery bird I can't find in any of our bird books. Some kind of finch, I'd
say, looking like it was dipped only halfway into the paint. Beautiful to look
at, and fast enough I couldn't get a good picture.
Blue cheeked Bee-Eater (Merops persicus). There are many varieties of Bee
Eaters, so I might be off. But with its gossamer tail and its delicate poise
in the northern grasslands of the Sahel (I took this shot near Gamadji,
northern Senegal), they are intriguing.
Black Kite (Milvus migrans): This impressive character impressed me so much he
got a page all to himself.
Spur-Winged Lapwing (Vanellus spinosus). This Lapwing reminds me a lot of the
endangered Piping plovers of my home beach. They're more confident though,
scolding my dogs, and stand quite a bit higher than my old plovers I
photographed this one on a grassy plateau overlooking the rocky Atlantic Ocean.
Red-Billed Hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus). I've had a passion for Hornbills
since I first found them flying overhead in the jungles of Western Java,
Indonesia. In Benin my favorite bird by far was a mysterious black hornbill
with a bright red beak; they chattered from the coconut palms and performed a
bobbing dance. In Senegal the Hornbills look like this, but the dance is the
same, and they are equally elegant and graceful.
Senegal Parrot (Poicephalus senegalus). Funny what happens if you don't cut
down the trees in your area: even the parrots come to hang out. We heard this
little guy before we saw him up in the tree branches, munching on the tender,
young pine cones.
Red-Billed Quelea (quelea quelea). Had a flock of these guys chattering in the
trees in our backyard. So cute.
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As always, thanks to Birds of Western Africa by Nik Borrow and Ron Demey, and A
Field Guide to the Birds of The Gambia and Senegal by Clive Barlow and Tim
Wacher.
