With Lockdown in South Africa in its 4th week, the social media challenges are abounding.
Drinking raw eggs, run a distance inside, post photos of yourself… the list goes on.
We haven’t forgotten our own Mystery Bird Challenge series, and I’ll come right out with a helping hand and and say almost all the migrants have gone home. That immediately reduces your options by 20% or so (I’ll need to check that figure).
Today’s mystery bird is fairly nondescript, so we thought we’d give you a fairly clear picture:
Take note of all clues in the picture…
Answer to be revealed in this Friday’s Week in Pictures…
Good luck!
Zitting Cisticola??
Is this a cuckoo?
I am actually not very good identifying the smaller birds. It looks like a croaking cisticola.
James, is it Richard’s Pipit?
Zitting cisticola?
My bird skills are dodgy at the best of times, but I think this may be one of the Larks…maybe fawn-coloured lark given the absence of streaking on the chest?…if not I’d go with LBJ 😉
Southern masked weaver female?
Hi James, I am by no means sure but visually it looks like one of the short-tailed Cisticolas, with Zitting being the most likely suspect. However as far as I can see from the picture the bird is carrying nesting material rather than food and as their breeding season ends mostly in March that does not make sense. Also it is a short grass species, though it looks like it was disturbed and flew up to a perch with visibility. Zitting Cisticola ticks more boxes than anything else I tried so I am going to go with that and assume he was a late starter on the breeding front.
Hello James! I think it is an African Pipit.
This is a fun way to learn more about birds!
Red faced cisticola
I am no bird expert AT ALL. It looks like a Sparrow! I can almost hear the groans from here! Wendy M
SABOTA LARK
My guess is a Pipet, possibly Buffy (adult)
Rattling Cisticola
Well, after time spent on Google, I think it’s a Zitting Cisticola. The photo posted even showed the same nest material in its beak.
I think it’s a Rattling Cisticola….because of the dark brown spots underneath the tail. Underparts are pale, legs appear pinkish in yr pic. The material in its mouth is confusing because the breeding should be completed BUT maybe that is a larvae in its mouth.
Could be rattling or zitting cisticola, I’m not sure.
Upon review, it’s most likely a zitting cisticola, though wing-snapping is also a possibility.