This forum is for asking questions and providing answers on bird identification. New and visiting birders are encouraged to ask and participate.
By dindelta
#46048
Here are a bunch more birds from Tanzania that I can not identify. They were all taken in Northern Tanzania around Arusha and the Serengeti. When making any IDS please scroll over the bird to find the "Unknown #, eg. "Unknown 1" so I can keep track of them. Many thanks in advance. This is the last batch of the over 65 different birds I saw there.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/121910895@N06/
By hawkman
#46055
I just googled Tanzania birds also and found some of yours pictured there.Just wondering wouldn't it be more satisfying to you to try and Id them yourself?With a little bit of web searching you could do it quite easily.Also why id them maybe just be happy that you got to see some beautiful birds.I plan on going to Costa Rica some day and and taking tons of bird pics and have no bird guide book and just enjoy my trip without trying to Id them.Post them in a web site and just say enjoy and please I don't need them id'd.I not a lister.I think this effort of trying so hard to id things is a bit over rated.Just my 2 cents worth. :)
By Fancy
#46060
Some of these birds are harder, but I don't mind trying to identify them, so I'll help.

1. Striated Heron
2. Malachite Kingfisher
3. White-fronted Bee-eater
4. Augur Buzzard


11. Helmet Guineafowl
12. seedeater/sparrow/finch sp.? (there's lot of them...)

14. Abdim's Stork

That's all I can do, sorry. Hope this helps a little. :)
By revs
#46074
hawkman wrote:I just googled Tanzania birds also and found some of yours pictured there.Just wondering wouldn't it be more satisfying to you to try and Id them yourself?With a little bit of web searching you could do it quite easily.Also why id them maybe just be happy that you got to see some beautiful birds.I plan on going to Costa Rica some day and and taking tons of bird pics and have no bird guide book and just enjoy my trip without trying to Id them.Post them in a web site and just say enjoy and please I don't need them id'd.I not a lister.I think this effort of trying so hard to id things is a bit over rated.Just my 2 cents worth. :)
Thanks for your thoughts hawkman, however this particular section of the forum is all about Bird Identification Help, there are many here who actually enjoy the challenge and don't mind chiming in.
I myself have no experience with Tanzania birds so have little to offer.
Impressed with Fancy and her ID skills however :)
By dindelta
#46076
A birder friend and I spent 2 mornings identifying the 60 other birds I took photos of, We couldn't identify these, hence my posting for help. Plus I like to know what type they are.
By LoganLalonde
#46078
1 - Striated Heron
2 - Malachite Kingfisher
3 - White-fronted Bee-eater
4 - Augur Buzzard
5 & 9 - Common Bulbul
6...8 - There are insane amounts of passerines in Tanzania, and I can't start to try to figure out which family these are in. :shock:
10 - Magpie Shrike
11 - Helmeted Guineafowl
12 - I agree with Fancy; I poured over Wikipedia, but couldn't find a match for this bird.
13 - Definitely a cisticola, possibly Churring.
14 - Abdim's Stork
15 - Another cisticola sp.

Well, I hope this helps! :D

You saw a fantastic diversity of birds, and they are all amazing looking! Tanzania has an al-time list of 1108 species; how many did you see? :)

Logan - Kelowna, B.C.
By dindelta
#46191
Many thanks to all for the IDs so far. However I think people have been making an ID using the position of the photos on the page because some of the IDs don't seem correct. They should have been using the "unknown" number on each photo.

Since the last posting I have deleted the ones I am sure of and have added others. If you don't mind please look at the site again and provide any IDs you have using the "unknown" number. https://www.flickr.com/photos/121910895@N06/

Once I have all the IDs as best as possible I will then load the 60 others I have previously made IDs for so that you can see them all. There are some pretty weird looking birds in Africa.
By Fancy
#46195
Yeah, I was doing it based on photo placement. Let's see what I can do now...


Unknown 6: Common Bulbul
10: Common Bulbul
12: White-fronted Bee-eater
13: Malachite Kingfisher
15: Common Bulbul
18: sunbird/honeycreeper sp.?
20: Cut-throat Finch
21: Lilac-breasted Roller
22: Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
25: Looks like a thrasher.....are there any in Tanzania?
28: Little Grebe
29: European Roller

There are a few others that will be quite hard, such as most of the passerines as there are so many, so that's all I can do.
By Deon
#46309
I'll give it a shot since I lived there (Africa) for 46 years!

1 - One of the Flycatchers
3 - Another Flycatcher
4 - Kenya Rufous Sparrow (Passer rufocinctus) Not 100 sure, but a Sparrow nonetheless
5 - African Long-tailed Shrike (Urolestes melanoleucus)
6 - Common Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus)
7 - Yellow-mantled Widowbird (Euplectes macroura) Not 100% sure , but definitely one of the Euplectus (Widowbird) family
8 - Yellow-mantled Widowbird (Euplectes macroura),
9 - Fiscal Shrike (Lanius collaris)
10 - Common Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus)
12 - White-fronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides)
12a - White-fronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides)
13 - Malachite Kingfisher (Alcedo cristata)
14 - I have no idea
15 - Common Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus)
17 - Beautiful Sunbird (Cinnyris pulchellus)
18 - Beautiful Sunbird female (Cinnyris pulchellus)
19 - Swahili Sparrow (Passer suahelicus) Not 100% sure because of the angle of the pic
20 - Cut-throat Finch (Amadina fasciata)
21 - Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus)
22 - Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus)
23 - Might be one of the Larks
25 - Beautiful Sunbird female (Cinnyris pulchellus)
26 - Rufous-tailed Weaver (Histurgops ruficaudus)
27 - Red-billed Buffalo Weaver (Bubalornis niger)
27-1 - Northern White-crowned Shrike (Eurocephalus rueppelli),
29 - Eurasian roller (Coracias garrulus)
30 - Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis)
32 - Augur Buzzard (Buteo augur)
By dindelta
#46380
Deon,

Much appreciated. I added 2 more and deleted all the ones you identified except the "lark" . Please take a look and give me your thoughts as to what the remaining birds are.
#46394
Wow, I am amazed at the knowledge of some of the members here and always impressed with their generosity in sharing it.
hawkman wrote:I just googled Tanzania birds also and found some of yours pictured there.Just wondering wouldn't it be more satisfying to you to try and Id them yourself?With a little bit of web searching you could do it quite easily.Also why id them maybe just be happy that you got to see some beautiful birds.I plan on going to Costa Rica some day and and taking tons of bird pics and have no bird guide book and just enjoy my trip without trying to Id them.Post them in a web site and just say enjoy and please I don't need them id'd.I not a lister.I think this effort of trying so hard to id things is a bit over rated.Just my 2 cents worth. :)
Hawkman, I've discovered ID ing the bird you have found is half the fun. When I started photographing birds, just thought they were pretty or powerful or added interest to a landscape.

But going home, searching through some books or the internet and finding "your bird" (even though millions of people have done it before you) is rewarding. You learn a bit about them in the process, where they live, what they eat, different variations; then the next time you see that same bird you do recognize it and think "aren't I smart", then you realize you are seeing that same bird all over the place and that you probably saw it many times before you took the time to ID it (oops, not so smart after all). Never the less the more you learn about them the easier it is to recognize when you are seeing something different and that is exciting!

I don't think I would qualify as a "birder" at all, like you not a lister but after about a year of taking bird photos I find myself starting to make notes of the birds I am finding and when and where I was. Occasionally counting up the number of species I've encountered in one journey. I'm finding the more I learn the more I want to learn about the birds I come across and ID ing them is the first step.
By Deon
#46400
Unknown 40 and 41 re definitely Common Bulbuls. Unknown23 on closer inspection is a juvenile Barbet. There are so many different Barbets in Tanzania, that it would be almost impossible to id this one. Unknown14 beats me. It has the head and bill shape of one of the Chats, or Boubous.

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