About the Author

James Tyrrell

Alumni

James had hardly touched a camera when he came to Londolozi, but his writing skills that complemented his Honours degree in Zoology meant that he was quickly snapped up by the Londolozi blog team. An environment rich in photographers helped him develop the ...

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16 Comments

on What Bird is This? #6

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Callum Evans
Guest contributor

I am very sure that that bird is a black sparrowhawk, looks identical to my local pair in Cape Town!

James Tyrrell
Alumni

Hi Callum,
Not a bad guess. Check in tomorrow on TWIP for the confirmation!

Declan Porter
Explorer

Its a Black Sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus). The white throat and black upperparts points to this species. I can also see the red eye. The tail is black and not rufous ruling out the Augur Buzzard and Jackal Buzzard. The bare legs rule out the eagles and the yellow cere rules out the melanistic morphs of the goshawks and other sparrowhawk species occuring in the area.

Joann Linderman
Explorer

Is it a Steppe Eagle?

Joanne Wadsworth Kelley
Master Tracker

Well James, not a clue! Just generally some Hawk or Eagle. Lame answer. Lol….

Gawie Jordaan
Master Tracker

I would say a Black Sparrowhawk.

Anthony Goldman
Guest contributor

How about African Hawk Eagle

James Tyrrell
Alumni

Hi Tony,
Very close. The colouration is a good match, but if you look closely you’ll see that this bird’s legs aren’t feathered and an African Hawk Eagle’s are…

Ann Richardson Berg
Digital Tracker

Hello James,
I think it is a Peregrine Falcon, male.
I wish you & your colleagues and all readers a
Happy New Year! ? That includes of course
adventures in the bush to see and study all the beautiful animals!
Thank you all for a very good blog!

James Tyrrell
Alumni

Hi Anne,
That’s not a bad guess but unfortunately not correct. Funny enough though, I had never seen a peregrine falcon at Londolozi until about a month ago, at which time one arrived and has since been hanging around. I believe it may actually be a pair as I seem to remember one of the rangers saying he’d seen two together.

Kelley Boston
Explorer

I’m going to say this one is a dark morph Black Sparrowhawk, because of the black eye, white patch on the throat, and what appears to be a little bit of white on the underparts. The legs look orange rather than yellow, but I think it could be a trick of the dim light.

Kelley Boston
Explorer

Okay, after enlarging the picture a bit, I cannot see white on the underparts, but I am sticking with my answer.

James Tyrrell
Alumni

Hi Kelley,
Look carefully at the chin; there’s white there…

Ian Maclarty
Guest contributor

Hi James,
This has to be an adult Jackal Buzzard.
Ian

James Tyrrell
Alumni

Hi Ian,
A very close guess. Jackal Buzzards lack the white in the chin that this one does.
Augur Buzzards have a bit more white in their chin but their range is far away unfortunately.
The bird in the picture we do see at Londolozi occasionally (its range in the book includes the reserve), but I can only remember two having been recorded in my time there, so it was certainly a surprise to see it.
Answer in TWIP tomorrow…
Best regards,
James

Wendy Hawkins
Senior Digital Ranger

Yes Black Sparrowhawk 🙂

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