NFA Bird Podcast NFA-ecotourism

I think I am good at fishing!

>>Listen to the story about Pel's Fishing-owl
#30 (En)Pel's fishing owl.mp3



Pel's Fishing-owl
(Scotopelia peli)

Photo By Francesco Veronesi from Italy
(Pel's Fishing-Owl - Malawi_S4E1943)
[CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons




Where can I find Pel's Fishing-owl in Uganda?



This bird can be found on the river side of Budongo Forest.


Press "read more" for the full Script of the program



30. Pel's Fishing-owl

(Scotopelia peli)


NFA bird Podcast: I am Johnnie Kamugisha. The bird for today is a Pel's Fishing-Owl
A Pel's Fishing-Owl is a huge owl that is unlikely to be confused with any other bird, in the Strigidae family.
It is one of the largest owl species in the world with a length of about 60cm, a wing span of 153cm and about 2-2.35 kg.
It is a bright orange-rufous heavily barred dusky above, and a little paler below with variable dark spots and bars.
Sexes look similar only the male is more rufous than the female, but there is considerable individual variation.
It feeds nocturnally on fish and fronts snatched from the surface of lakes and rivers.
They prefer slow moving rivers with large overhanging trees to roost and forage from like at the bottom of the Murchison falls.
Unlike most owls, they have minimal feathers on the toes and the tarsus, thus minimising the amount plumage that gets wet while fishing.
Pel's Fishing-Owl nests in hollows, rocks, and the forks of large trees.
Two eggs are laid but only one chick is raised.
Like diurnal raptors that specialise in fish, they have spiky scales on the bottom of their feet that help them grip slippery fish.
Since hearing and auditory stealth is not important to its hunting techniques, this owl does not have strong hearing and does not have the soft edges to its flight feathers that most owls share, which makes them almost impossible to hear in flight.
They have a white throat that is usually obscured but puffed up in displaying birds during courtship.
The Pel's Fishing-Owl has distinctly dark eyes, often black in colour.
The song of the male Pel's Fishing-Owl is a deep, sonorous, horn-like boom.
The female's songs are similar but are higher pitched and even in a double-note.
They are monogamous and territorial, claiming a stretch of river or lakeshore for themselves.
The eggs are laid when water's are starting to fall, so that brood feeding coincides with low water and concentrated prey.
The female does the incubation for about a month, while the male feeds her.
At the first sight of danger, both parents engage in distraction displays to protect their offspring.
These could be behaving as if injured, to draw the attention of the potential predator.
The bird for today is a Pel's Fishing-Owl and am Johnnie Kamugisha

One of our colleague knew 150 words!

>>Listen to the story about Grey Parrot
Cannot listen? Download the sound file from here!

#31 (En) African Grey Parrot.mp3


Grey Parott
(Psittacus erithacus)

Photo by Tomo Akiyama
Go to his website to see more great photos!
http://www.wildlifejapan.com/wildlifejapan/
***The copy right of this photo belongs to Tomo Akiyama




Where can I find
Grey Parrot in Uganda?

This bird distributes the middle parts of Africa.
Uganda is the eastern edge of their distribution.






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29.Grey Parrot
(Psittacus erithacus)

NFA bird Podcast: I am Johnnie Kamugisha.
The bird for today is the African Grey Parrot.
This is one of the most intelligent birds in the world.
They imitate several other species as well as man.
Every morning, they come to say hello to me at my house, as they fly away to go to field.
It is 30cm long that is from the tip of the bill to the tail end.
It is one of the birds that live long.
It can live for up to 50 - 100 years in the wild and in captivity respectively, meaning it will live 50 years in captivity, and if it is left in the wild it will live up to 100 years.
Their diet includes seed, fruits, palm nuts, but they may feed on leaves as well.
They like their food meaning they like eating.
Because of the destruction of their habitat, they are now found even in urban areas.
The bird for today is the African Grey Parrot and am Johnnie Kamugisha.

My wife and I always sing together!

>>Listen to the story about Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Cannot listen? Download the sound file from here!

#28 (En) Brown throated wattle eye.mp3

Recorded by Mr. James and David Bradley
Source: xeno-canto website Brown-throated Wattle eye




Brown-throated Wattle-eye
(Platysteira cyanea)

Photo by Lars Petersson
Go to his website to see more great photos!
***The copy rights of this photo belongs to Lars Petersson




Where can I find
Brown-throated Wattle-eye in Uganda?




This bird distributes the middle parts of Africa.






Press "read more" for the full Script of the program


28.Brown-throated Wattle-eye

(Platysteira cyanea)

NFA bird Podcast: I am Johnnie Kamugisha.
The bird for today is a Brown-throated Wattle-eye.
Brown-throated Wattle-eye also known as the Common Wattle-eye is a small, insectivorous passerine bird.
Brown-throated Wattle-eye is a stout bird about 14cm in length.
They have short legs and an upright stance while patched.
They were previously classed as a subfamily of the Old World Flycatcher family Muscicapidae but are now separated from that family.
Brown-throated Wattle-eye is found in secondary forest and other wooded areas, including gardens.
Brown-throated Wattle-eye build a small neat lichen and cobweb cup like nest low in a tree or bush.
The breeding male has has glossy black upper parts, and white underparts with a neat black breast band.
They have a strong white wing bar, and fleshy red wattles above the eye.
The females are grey-black above, and also have the white wing bar and the red wattles.
They have a small patch of white below the bill, the throat and breast are maroon, separated from the white belly by the black breast band.
Brown-throated Wattle-eyes are usually found in pairs and small groups.
Brown-throated Wattle-eye has a very characteristic six not call. My boys in Bwindi told that it sound like "please come for breakfast."
Their main diet is insects, although spiders, millipedes and scorpions are also taken, and there are records of small lizards being eaten too.
They also use the advantage of foraging with mixed species feeding flocks.
They can be found in forests like Budongo, Kibale, Bwindi, Echuya among others.
The bird for today is the Brown-throated Wattle-eye and am Johnnie Kamugisha

We like the edge of Uganda!

>>Listen to the story about Blue-headed Sunbird
Cannot listen? Download the sound file from here!

#27 (En)Blue-headed Sunbird.mp3



Blue-headed Sunbird
(Nectarinia alinae)

Photo by Kilian Wasner
Go to his website to see more great photos!
***The copy rights of this photo belongs to Kilian Wasmer




Where can I find
Blue-headed Sunbird in Uganda?

This bird distribute to Albertine Lift areas.





In Uganda, they can be found in the south western part.



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27.Blue-headed Sunbird
Nectarinia alinae

NFA bird Podcast: I am Johnnie Kamugisha. The bird for today is the Blue-headed Sunbird
Sunbirds are from the family Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds.
The Blue-headed Sunbird has the head, throat and upper breast iridescent dark blue with a violet sheen.
Its mantle is dark saffron-olive and belly blackish.
Blue-headed Sunbird has bright red eyes.
When looked at well, one will see that the Blue-headed Sunbird has creamy-yellow pictorial tufts.
The Blue-headed Sunbird is a nectar lover but is particularly fond of Balthasarea and Loranthus flowers.
Flower tubes that bar access to nectar because of its shape, are simply punctured at the base near the nectaries. Cleaver birds. isn't it?
Although they feed largely on nectar, they also take insects and spiders, most especially when feeding young.
It makes spitted zit call often in flight and its unusual song is a long loud, rolling, spitted series that undulates as a sine wave.
They have a fast and direct flight on their short wings and they are 13cm.
The Blue-headed Sunbird has counterparts in two very distinctly related groups: the Hummingbirds of the Americas and the Honeyeaters of Australia.
The resemblances are due to convergent evolution brought about by similar nectar-feeding lifestyle.
Some sunbird species can take nectar by hovering like a humming bird, but have to perch to feed.
They are generally monogamous and often territorial, although a few species of Sunbirds have lekking behaviour.
They generally build purse-shaped, enclosed, suspended from thin branches with generous use of spiderweb.
The Blue-headed Sunbird is one of the albertine rift endemic birds that occur in Uganda.
They can be found in forests like Bwindi, Echuya and Mgahinga.
The bird for today is the Blue-headed Sunbird and am Johnnie Kamugisha

Do you need a nest? Let me make it with my bill!

>>Listen to the story about Yellow-breasted Apalis
Cannot listen? Download the sound file from here!
#26 (En)Yellow-breasted Apalis.mp3




Yellow-breasted Apalis
(Apalis flavida)

Photo by Casper Badenhorst (Birding Limpopo)
Go to his website to see more great photos!
***The copy rights of this photo belongs to Casper Badenhorst




Where can I find
Yellow-breasted Apalis in Uganda?

This bird distribute to Sub-saharan Africa




In Uganda, they can be found forest, bush and woodland except north western regeion.



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27. Yellow-breasted Apalis

(Apalis flavida)

NFA bird Podcast: I am Johnnie Kamugisha.
The bird for today is a Yellow-breasted Apalis.
This a complex species with several races which have been variously placed in two groups based on tail colour.
All forms are greenish above with yellow across the breast, and have varying amounts of grey on the crown.
Many have a small black spot spot.
It mainly eats insects, often restlessly foraging in the foliage of the canopy, gleaning prey from leave and twigs.
It builds a nest in an oval ball shape with a side entrance.
Its nest is made from grass, bark, tendrils, dead leaves, lichen, flowers, shrub among others mostly near old man's- beard lichen.
Egg laying season is from about October-March peaking around October-November.
It lays 2-3 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes for about two weeks.
The chicks are looked after by both parents, leaving the nest after about two weeks.
They also make an interesting call that sound almost similar to Grey-backed Camaroptera like two stone being knocked together.
Pairs are common and wide spread in a variety of woodland.
The bird for today is the Yellow-breasted Apalis and am Johnnie Kamugisha

Yes, I am small, but I am confident!

>>Listen to the story about Grey Backed Camaroptera
Cannot listen? Download the sound file from here!

#25 (En)Grey Backed Camaroptera.mp3




Grey-backed Camaroptera
(Camaroptera brevicaudata)

Photo by Fran Trabalon
Go to his website to see more fabulous photos!
***The copy rights of this photo belongs to Fran Trabalon.




Where can I find
Grey-backed Camaroptera in Uganda?

This bird distribute to the middle part of Africa.



.

In Uganda, they can be found in Budongo, Echuya forest among lots more.



Press "read more" for the full Script of the program26. Grey-backed Camaroptera

NFA bird Podcast: I am Johnnie Kamugisha. The bird for today is the Grey-backed Camaroptera
The Grey-backed Camaroptera also known as bleating Warbler occur in two distinct groups.
They are grey birds with green wings, distinguished by its lack of green mantle.
Grey-backed Camaroptera is one of four species in its genus, the others being Green-backed, Olive-green and Yellow-browed. They are placed in into Cisticolidae, a family consisting 110 small passerines.

The Grey-backed Camaroptera is very vocal, and gets its alternate name bleating warbler from its alarm call.
They also make an interesting call that sound like two stone being knocked together.
Grey-backed Camaroptera's skulk around in dense brush and are often heard than seen may be if you have Johnnie's eagle eye.
They bind large leaves together by piercing at the edges and then sew them together with bark fibre and cobwebs low in the bush and then build a grass nest inside them.
Egg-laying season is from Oct - April
It lays 2-4 eggs, which are incubated for about 2 weeks.
It is 10cm long.

Grey-backed Camaroptera are insectivores and behave much like wrens, skulking around in the undergrowth.
They mainly eat invertebrates, doing most of the foraging in the undergrowth, gleaning prey from leaves and stems.
They may eat insects like, beetles, flies, locusts among others.
It has been recorded as a prey of African Goshawk and possibly Pear-spotted Owlet.
It has been recorded as host of Honeyguides.
They can be found in forests like Budongo forest, Echuya forest among lots more.
The bird for today is the Grey-backed Camaroptera and am Johnnie Kamugisha