Birds by the Sea

Black Skimmers, at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean

We went to the beach on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens between Arverne By The Sea and Edgemere this past weekend. I hoped to see a few flyby birds while we splashed in the waves. We were happy to find that a big chunk of beach was blocked off for breeding coastal birds. This area allows hundreds of birds of multiple species to nest and raise their young. Birds flew by, fished, and even came in close enough for easy pictures!

Piping Plovers need beaches!

An Oak Tree Older than America

This Red Oak started growing in 1743. The United States of America was not yet a country, with its declaration of independence still decades away. The global human population was around 750 million individuals; we did not yet understand that many diseases were caused by microorganisms, that earth’s crustal plates move around over time, that species evolve over time, or that humans could move energy from one place to another through wires. In 1743, Passenger Pigeons flocked in the skies of Eastern North America and may have landed in this tree’s branches.

The sign declares the tree to be more than 275 years old. This sign may be a few years old too, so the tree actually started growing in the decade before 1743. Regardless of the exact years, it's long life is a blip- nearly nonexistent- in geologic time, but this tree’s life spans a significant set of chapters in our human story. We now have 7.5 billion humans on the planet and have made significant scientific discoveries that allow us to do all sorts of things and lead to even more discoveries. Passenger Pigeons are extinct, and we ponder the fate of many other species both locally and globally.

This tree resides on the land that we now call New York
Botanical Garden, Bronx County, New York, United States.
At the time of the tree's sprouting, it was in land of Westchester
County, part of the Province of New York, a British colony
 (you can see such labels on the 1776 and 1777 maps
available from the NY Public Library). 

And here this tree is, somehow still standing despite the vast majority of other old trees in the entire country being felled. Here it is providing shade and wonder to my family and food for insects and thus for birds.

It all started from an acorn, an acorn that is virtually identical to the Red Oak acorns you find today, and 275 years from now, the acorns of today could be trees that provide future humans, insects, and birds with shade, food, and wonder. What will our landscape, both cultural and ecological, look like in 2291?

Birding the Bronx River at New York Botanical Garden

Wood Ducks benefit from the habitat conserved at New York 
Botanical Garden (NYBG). This species breeds in tree cavities
near water, two qualifications which can be found in the forest
at NYBG. 

Although birds can be found throughout the garden (and some
species, such as Red-breasted Nuthatches might be more likely
around certain plant collections, like conifers), most of my
favorite spots are shown on this map. The Thain Family Forest
contains roughly four short trails that are worth hours of
combing for both birds and tranquility. The model wetland
can be accessed just outside the trail at the center of this map
(but not shown). Also not shown are the Twin Ponds, which
would be on the left side of the map, just outside the forest
and below the river. 

Birding the Bronx River at the Bronx Zoo

The Bronz Zoo is a great place to see birds- and not just the species on exhibit!

A mother Wood Duck with her ducklings swims on the
Bronx River, on May 12, 2017, at the Bronx River,
seen from the Mitsubishi River Walk. Species like this
are able to breed and raise their young in the habitat
around the Bronx River.

Habitat along the Bronx River at the Bronx Zoo includes
remaining forest of Tulip Trees, oaks, and other native trees.
Other habitats include mudflats and some wetlands along the
river (and some in animal enclosures). While most species
just migrate through, there are species that breed here too.

Birding the Bronx River Corridor

Looking downstream along the Bronx River, 
at New York Botanical Garden in June 2017

A sign at the Bronx Zoo (at the World of Birds) depicts 
an American Redstart and notes the ecological importance of the 
Bronx River for migratory birds. 

I saw an American Redstart chasing insects in a tree about 
50 feet from the sign pictured above, at the Bronx Zoo.

Christmas Bird Count in the Bronx

One young Red-tailed Hawk.

For the East Bronx section of Bronx-Westchester Christmas Bird Count (CBC), I birded the southern zone of Pelham Bay Park with a group of five people. We covered about 2.5 miles of distance (not including backtracking) in over five hours. Our goal was to identify and count every single bird to submit as part of a larger citizen science effort to track bird populations and distribution.

Early light at Pelham Bay Park landfill, part of the southern zone of the park.

One of the highlights of covering the southern zone is entering the generally-closed-to-the-public landfill area. With its grassland-like habitat, it always holds promise for interesting birds.

New York City landmarks, just part of the scenery!

Birding with the Linnean Society on Staten Island

Coast along Staten Island at Great Kills Park

We started the morning at Great Kills Park. Highlights included Bonaparte's Gull, Black Scoter, Bank Swallows, Little Blue Heron, and Black Skimmer.

Complete bird list and photos from Great Kills Park: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30651844.

Grassland in Staten Island at Mt. Loretto Unique Area

We finished the morning at Mt. Loretto Unique Area. Highlights included Black Vulture, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, an Eastern Kingbird feeding its young at a nest, and an Indigo Bunting.

Complete bird list and photos from Mt. Loretto Unique Area: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30652105.

Find out more about the programs and field trips of the Linnean Society of New York at http://linnaeannewyork.org.

NYC waters- Randall's Island

Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean are connected by what New Yorkers call the East River, which is actually a waterway called a strait, in this case having tidal flows between the bigger water bodies (so no, it's not actually a river). The East River passes the "mainland" (The Bronx) and numerous islands are touched by its saltwater flows (like Manhattan, and Long Island (Queens and Brooklyn are part of this island)). Other smaller islands, like South and North Brother Islands, which are not currently inhabited by people, and Randall's Island, are fully surrounded by straits*.

Randall's Island is really an amalgamation of terra firma. Its current state shows you just how much humans can impact land and water. We united apparently three formerly disconnected islands, including Ward's Island, Randall's Island, and the Sunken Meadow island. Looking at the Historical NYC Maps & Atlases, you can see three distinct islands up until 1922 (maps from at least 1839-1922 show 3 islands). While we had many impacts including deforestation by using the land itself , in the last hundred years, we also altered this area by joining the islands.

NYC Waters: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

One of my favorite things about living in NYC is this:

What other place in the country (in the world?) can you take public transit to a 9,000 acre wildlife refuge?

It surprises me how few people who live in NYC have been to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge; many people I talk to don't even know about it!

Bringing the sausage tree to Agahozo

The sausage tree is found in a variety of habitats, including the open
plains of Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

The sausage tree is a prominent tree of the African landscape. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa and can be found in nearly every country in that range. But you hardly see them in Rwanda.

The tree gets its English name because its fruits resemble giant sausages.
This picture is from one of the only Kigelia trees I have seen in Rwanda.

Kigelia pinnata is found in the surrounding countries Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi in savannahs and woodlands from 1100-3000 above sea level (I have seen it in both Uganda and Tanzania). Despite having the elevation and (at least formerly having the) habitat, I have only seen a few individuals of this species in Rwanda, all near the shore of Lake Muhazi, but I would guess it can also be found in Akagera National Park.

A sausage tree in a much more wooded habitat than the picture above,
in this case in Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania.

Most of Rwanda’s native trees outside the parks, especially the big ones, have been cut and replaced by non-native eucalyptus trees, grevillea trees, crops, and banana plants. I suspect that Rwanda's sausage trees were cut in the past. Many non-native ornamental trees, like filau (Asia) and jacaranda (Central America), are promoted, sold regularly, and planted throughout Rwanda as well. To me the lack of hornbills outside the parks in Rwanda is indicative of the lack of big native trees (hornbills nest in cavities in old, larger trees). You do see hornbills regularly in the countryside of Uganda because there are still many big native trees scattered among farms.

A young sausage tree outside Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda.

I scoured all the Kigali plant nurseries I could in search of sausage trees, but I could not find a single plant. As I mentioned, mostly exotic species are planted here as ornamental trees (Spathodea campanulata, the African tulip, a native, is also a popular choice). Interestingly enough, sausage trees are used as ornamental trees in other African countries and even in Australia. The sausage tree provides dense shade and has large attractive maroon flowers. Its flowers are also a great food source for bees, so it makes sense to plant when you have beekeeping operations (as ASYV does). But again, you don’t see sausage trees in Rwanda where everyone seems to opt for exotics.

The fruit (left) and seeds (right) of the sausage tree.

I decided to try to bring the sausage tree to our hillside. We need both shade and flowers for our bees at ASYV. I collected seeds from a rotting fruit and got a not-yet-ripe sausage fruit to save and harvest later. Kigelia seeds are known to be quite difficult to cultivate. I have found that to be the case unfortunately. I have tried five different methods, including the recommended method without much success. Out of over 100 seeds, I have only gotten four to sprout, all through keeping them moist in plastic bags.

Two Kigelia plants just after sprouting.

We have planted two of the sausage tree seedlings in our nature park. The Environment Club and the students of Agahozo-Shalom work each week to protect our recovering woodland from non-native invasive species. We have two more seedlings and are contemplating whether to plant them or keep them in the nursery until they get much bigger.

A member of the ASYV Environment Club plants a sausage tree seedling
in the Agahozo-Shalom Nature Park.

Bringing the sausage tree to this hillside is a small step in the native reforestation of Rwanda. It is up to just four plants at this location, but if they grow and eventually fruit, the sausage tree may again be a fixture of this African landscape. 

Just the beginning! In 4-5 years, this tree should provide shade and
reach up to 5 meters.

Works consulted:

• Biggelaar, C. 1996. "Appendix: List of all tree (ibiti) and other plant sepcies cultivatedon the sample farms in the communes of Karama and Mabara." Farmer Experimentation and Innovation: A case study of knowledge generation processes in agroforestry systems in Rwanda. Food and Agriculture Organization. Accessed October 23, 2011 at http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/W2406E/W2406E10.htm
• "Kigelia pinnata." AgroForestryTree Database. World Agroforestry Center. Accessed October 23, 2011 at http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/Products/AFDbases/AF/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=1028

A birthday with gorillas

The dominant male silverback gorilla is singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY
to me in his loudest voice. Ok, he's actually just yawning.

It is nearly 11 am, and we have been hiking up the side of an ancient volcano for nearly two hours. As Michele, myself, a group of six others, and a guide clamber through stinging nettles, bamboo, and mud, my eyes light up and I grab Michele's hand.

There they are…

Volcanoes National Park is the only place in Rwanda where mountain
gorillas can be seen

I turn 28 this month. Michele and I wanted to celebrate our birthdays (her birthday was earlier this year) by doing something special. Tracking mountain gorillas was a gift to ourselves, and by paying for the fairly expensive permits, it was a contribution to the conservation of these phenomenal mammals.

Mount Sabyinyo in Volcanoes National Park and agriculture
leading up to its base, Rwanda

Mountain gorillas, Gorilla beringei beringei, are some of the rarest primates on the planet. Just about 680 individuals inhabit planet earth in the wild. They live in the forested mountains of just four national parks split between Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (three of these parks are connected, encompassing the Virunga range of volcanoes).

Bamboo forests are part of the habitat range of the mountain gorilla. This
picture was taken on Mount Karisimbi, about 2600 meters above sea level,
in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda.

There are different species of gorillas. The genus Gorilla actually composes two species and up to five separate subspecies. There are the Western gorillas (two subspecies in the lowland forests of Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic) and the Eastern gorillas (up to three subspecies: one in the lowlands of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the mountain gorillas in the volcanoes of the Virunga range, and a potential third subspecies in Bwindi Inpenetrable Forest, Uganda). It is not always easy to determine if one subspecies of animal is truly distinct from one another. In the case of gorillas, especially the mountain gorillas, they are populations separated by a sea of human habitation, and it is very possible they will never meet.

One of two babies in a set of twins. The other twin is below right,
out of view in this picture.

Mountain gorillas are distinct from other gorilla subspecies. Physically, “mountain gorillas differ from other gorillas in having longer hair, larger jaws and teeth, smaller nose, and shorter arms,” according to the University of Michigan’s Animal Diversity Web.

Eco-tourism is one major strategy in generating funds for conservation.

All gorillas are endangered. Habitat loss from agricultural expansion and logging cut short the areas available to gorillas. Hunting for bush meat, wars, and capture (for the pet and zoo trade) claim many gorillas every year. Gorillas are extremely similar to humans (96-98% of the same genetic material) and thus are susceptible to diseases that spread through our populations; Western gorillas, however, are particularly impacted by Ebola, which is not spread by humans. Gorillas invest a lot of time in their babies and although each pregnancy is only about 8.5 months, mature female gorillas give birth once every 4-5 years. All of these negative forces combine with the slow birth rate to give gorillas a grim outlook for the future.

So similar to humans... what goes on behind those glowing eyes?

Gorillas depend on the conservation of suitable habitat and migration corridors to connect populations. Gorillas need to be protected from hunting for meat, from being collected as pets, and being murdered as targets by military groups. If we want gorillas around, they may also need our help combatting Ebola (in the West) and other diseases. With animals that have small populations, like the mountain gorillas, every individual is an important target for conservation. 

We observed gorillas doing what they do, living their lives. They
ate, yawned, slept, cleaned their fingers, and pooped. We even
saw a mother nurse her baby! They were very peaceful and did not seem
to mind out presence (of course, these gorillas are habituated).
Research on non-habituated gorillas has found then to be gentile and
generally peaceful.

Eco-tourism is one promising strategy in helping protect the gorillas and their habitat. As research and practical experience has shown in many projects, when people, especially local people, realize a financial incentive to conserve, they protect wild places and wild animals. With some 20,000 people visiting Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda a year (mostly to track gorillas), there are significant opportunities.  Volcanoes National Park employs 180 people directly and provides employment for another 800 local residents indirectly. All the people who visit hire drivers, stay at hotels/guesthouses, and stop at restaurants. While there is still much room to improve the livelihood of local residents, eco-tourism centered on the gorillas provides tens of millions of dollars to the Rwandan economy each year.

Gorillas live in small groups, dominated by a male silver back. The group
of mountain gorillas we visited (Susa group) on Mount Karisimbi, had a
total of just over thirty individuals, including three silverbacks (one
dominant). This group represents 8% of the gorillas in the Virunga range
or about 5% of the total mountain gorilla population.

As I turn 28, I am thrilled to see these icons of African wildlife and one of the closest relatives to our species. But I wonder if some day my future kids, when they reach this age, will be able to see gorillas. Will gorillas exist in the wild or will they be mythical creatures in movies or just another extinct animal in books and museums? This is the century where humans will decide the fate of many species on this planet.

I am displaying this photograph large because it is my favorite and it needs to be big. If any shot of mine was close to capturing the experience, this is it. At one point I counted 22 gorillas in sight (never in a single picture frame). Try to count the gorillas in this picture and post your answer below.

Works consulted

• Kingdon, J. The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004.
• Lindsley, T. and A. Sorin. 2001. "Gorilla beringei" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed October 02, 2011 at: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Gorilla_beringei.html.
• Nielsen, H. and Spenceley, A. 2010. "The Success of Tourism in Rwanda- Gorillas and More." World Bank. Accessed October 2, 2011 at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/AFRICAEXT/Resources/258643-1271798012256/Tourism_Rwanda.pdf
• O'Neil, D. 2011. "Primates: The Taxonomy and General Characteristics of Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and Humans." Behavioral Sciences Department, Palomar College. Accessed October 2, 2011 at: http://anthro.palomar.edu/primate/Default.htm
• Robbins, M. & Williamson, L. 2008. Gorilla beringei. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 02 October 2011.
• Walsh, P.D., Tutin, C.E.G., Oates, J.F., Baillie, J.E.M., Maisels, F., Stokes, E.J., Gatti, S., Bergl, R.A., Sunderland-Groves, J. & Dunn. A. 2008. Gorilla gorilla. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 02 October 2011.

Alien invasion!

Flowers of Lantana camara. Look closely- each one of those blooms is
a small flower on a bigger 'head.' Each head can have up to 20 flowers.

I have met the enemy, and its name is Lantana.

Lantana camara is a plant species originally from Central and northern South America. Sixty years ago this beautiful plant was still in its native range, but it was taken to Europe as an ornamental. People then took it around the world, and now sixty countries or major islands are grappling with its effects on their ecosystems.

Lantana thick and tall in Agahozo-Shalom Nature Park, 7:30 am one morning.
You can barely make out the tree inside.

Lantana is all over East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi). On our hillside in Rwanda, outside of landscaped and cultivated areas, Lantana is the dominant plant. You pass it on the way to the dining hall and school, you sit near it in the amphitheater, and you see it in Parike W’Agahozo (Agahozo-Shalom Nature Park). In the park especially, where we are promoting the growth of native species, Lantana is a major problem; it is a non-native (alien), invasive species.

The same view of the tree as above five hours later with Lantana removed.
There is still more to remove from the back and sides, and several stumps
still need  to be removed. Clearing Lantana from this tree was particularly
tricky because there are swarms of honeybees that live in it!

Most non-native plants do not cause problems. Generally plants are adapted to a certain climate, soil type, variety of pollinators, and other environmental factors and thus do not succeed outside of their established range. Some plants are extremely tolerant of different conditions. It is these plants that can become problematic when they are introduced to new areas. They can have devastating consequences when other plants, animals, bacteria, and all the forms of biodiversity are not adapted to such a new factor. Lantana outcompetes the local plants and quickly forms a dense monoculture of Lantana. Any associated animals must either move on from their former habitat or adapt to living with Lantana.

The small shark-tooth shaped thorns that can make removing Lantana
tough on the hands, arms, and any other part of the body they scratch.

To understand Lantana’s imposing grasp on the landscape, we need to examine its biology. Lantana is a flowering plant that produces fruits. These small berries are eaten by birds (other animals) and are spread through their feces. This takes Lantana far and wide across the landscape.

Lantana fruits

Once the seeds germinate, they grow quickly. In just its second growing season, Lantana can produce flowers. The flowers are very small, but grow on heads that can contain twenty flowers per head. A mature plant “flowers prolifically” and can produce 12,000 seeds annually.

I counted 87 flower heads (assuming just 10 flowers per head, that is 870
flowers). Each one of these flowers may produce a fruit. Now, try to count
the heads that have already fruited. You get the picture.

In addition to its reproductive attributes, Lantana grows quickly and shades out all other species in an area. In shaded areas, their shoots grow tall and sprout leaves above the cover. They can grow thick stems that lean on trees and within just a couple years, they can completely shade out a 3 meter tree. Taller trees in a dense forest may prevent Lantana growth, but in an area that is being reforested like Parike W’Agahozo, Lantana will plague native regrowth until the trees are tall enough to shade it out.

Lantana regrowth, just two months after we cut away the rest of the plant.
Because of its ability to regrow quickly, we have to remove the roots.

It is difficult to estimate how much Lantana is in the 1.7 hectares of Parike W’Agahozo. Mature plants might be easy to count, but many younger plants have small stems and number in the 1000s. Young plants that have sprouted in the past year number in the tens or hundreds of thousands.

A student uses a saw to cut Lantana.

Upon realizing the depth of the problem, it became apparent to me that without mitigation, the park would become a protected place of Lantana, a stronghold for it to continue its spread. In order to plant native trees and to conserve the native species we already have, we had to get rid of the Lantana.

Students removing the roots of Lantana.

But is not as easy as cutting it down. Lantana can grow back from any part of itself. We have to remove the roots to fully disrupt Lantana regrowth. Agahozo-Shalom students participate in removing Lantana from the park each Saturday. Our tools include hand saws, pruners, hoes, pitchforks, and gloves. We have removed maybe half the Lantana in the park, but we have a long way to go.

Students participate in Lantana removal each week.

Looking back on my photographs of birds at ASYV, it is telling that a large number of them are on Lantana branches. I do not believe we can fully remove Lantana from East Africa. What we can do is find the places that need protection the most, like parks and Important Bird Areas, and make sure that Lantana does not invade them. We also need to educate people outside these areas to certainly not plant Lantana, but also to remove it and favor other plants so we can reduce its spread.

In the much bigger picture, we cannot blame the plant. We brought this plant here. We transport invasive species all over the planet. Everyone in every environment can promote native species and help stop the spread of non-native, invasive species.

Works Consulted

• "Invasive Species in Eastern Africa: Proceedings of a workshop held at ICIPE, July 5-6, 1999." UNEP Convention on Biological Diversity. Accessed September 29, 2011 at http://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/cop/cop-05/information/cop-05-inf-33-en.pdf
• Walton. C. "Lantana camara." Global Invasive Species Database. Accessed September 29, 2011. http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=56&fr=1&sts=
• “Invasive Pest Fact Sheet: Lantana camara.” Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network. Accessed September 29, 2011. http://www.fao.org/forestry/13375-06ba52ce294a4e15f8264c42027052db0.pdf
• “Pest Plants- Lantana camara.” Rwanda’s the Eye Magazine. Accessed September 29, 2011. http://www.theeye.co.rw/pestplants.php.php

Flamingos, ostriches, and other big birds of East Africa

Big birds capture the imagination, amaze the eye, and sometimes appear to defy physics. Even non-birders tend to be impressed by the big, especially brightly-colored birds. They are featured in literature (think Alice in Wonderland), in art (cranes in Asian art especially), and in urban legend/mythology (storks bringing newborns, owls having wisdom, etc.). Zoos often feature these birds not only because they can be easily seen by visitors but for conservation reasons. Big birds are easily found and hunted in the wild and are often heavily impacted by habitat alteration. Some birds, such as the lappet-faced vulture, the southern ground hornbill, and the ostrich, have suffered heavily declines due to hunting by humans. Other birds, such as the grey-crowned crane, are celebrated (national bird of Uganda) and kept as domestic pets; habitat loss and capture from the wild has subsequently decreased wild populations by up to 50%. Big birds are important contributors to their ecosystems and inspiration to many cultures; hopefully, they will remain visible in the wild in East Africa and on Planet Earth.

Although the greater flamingo is much bigger, the lesser flamingo, Phoenicopterus minor, is a  big, goofy, pink bird with a very interesting bill. We counted nearly 3000 individuals at Arusha National Park in Tanzania.

The common ostrich, Struthio camelus,  has a mass ranging from 90 to 130 kg (up to  286 lb) and stands tall at 2 meters.  Ostriches eat mostly plants and require up to 3.5 kg of food a day. They are the largest living birds on Planet Earth, although larger birds of Madagascar and New Zealand went extinct in very recent times due to hunting (in the last few hundred years). The ostrich itself has been extirpated from Southwest Asia, the Arabian peninsula, and Northern Africa. Pictured in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

The lappet-faced vulture, Torgos tracheliotis, is tied for the largest vulture in Africa. This species' wingspan can beat 2.8 meters; imagine its wingtips touching the ground and nearly reaching the rim of a basketball goal. While it is mainly a scavenger, this species can hunt live prey like flamingos! It has suffered heavy declines to due accidental (when it eats poisoned carcasses of carnivores) and deliberate poisoning. Pictured in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

Kori bustards, Ardeotis kori, are the heaviest flying birds in Africa; males can weigh up to 19 kg (over 40 lb). Although I have never heard the Kori bustard in the wild, it once captivated me at a younger age with its strange "vooomp"  boast at the Kansas City Zoo and consequently was at the top of my "have-to-see" list . Seeing them in the wild, pictured above in the Serengeti plains, is one of my favorite memories of birding in Africa so far.

The secretarybird, Sagittarius serpentarius, is a unique bird of prey that stalks arthropods, small mammals, and reptiles by looking for movement and then striking or chasing after them. While its wingspan ranges from 1.2 to 1.35 meters, giving it much longer wings than martial eagles and Kori bustards, it is only about half the wingspan of the lappet-faced vulture. Picture in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

Depending on age, genetics, and other factors, the martial eagle, Polemaetus bellicosus, competes with African crowned eagles and Verreaux's Eagles for the title of Africa's largest eagle. Although it generally sticks to smaller prey like hares, wild cats, hyraxes, and chicken-sized birds, martial eagles can and do successfully hunt monkeys, baboons, and even small antelope. Picture from Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

The goliath heron, Ardea goliath, is the largest of all living herons.  Its wingspan on average is 2 meters, and it prefers to eat big fish (fish measuring, on average, 30 centimeters, longer than my forearm). Although the patterns cannot be seen in this picture, note its thick bill. For a while, blacksmith and crowned lapwings roamed next to the bird, underscoring how large this individual was. Seen in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

The southern ground hornbill is one of two species of ground hornbill, both found in Africa. Bucorvus leadbeateri is very large, and although it does fly, it spends most of its time walking around snatching arthropods and reptiles from the ground. We have seen only two, both at Lake Manyara. This bird is a female, determined by the presence of blue on the neck under the bill (not visible in the picture).

Verreaux's Eagle-Owl is small compared to the other birds on this post, but it is sub-Saharan Africa's largest owl; only two other owls get close. This species, Bubo lacteus, was seen awake at Tarangire National Park in Tanzania just before sunset. 

This page does a poor job of showing the storks of East Africa. I have seen black storks, white storks, yellow-billed storks, and African open-billed storks, all of which are big birds. Marabou storks, however, can get to be the largest of them all. The marabou stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus, is also probably the least attractive of the storks, though beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Picture at Akagera National Park, Rwanda.

Grey crowned cranes, Balearica regulorum, can be found in East and Southern Africa. These individuals were seen in Lake Manyara National Park, in Tanzania, but I have seen them several times in Rwanda as well. Despite having wingspans up to 2 meters and standing around a meter high, they only weigh 3 to 4 kilograms (about 7-8 lb). 

Other birds that belong on this page that I have seen but do not have pictures are the great white pelican and the pink-backed pelican. Birds that belong here that I have not yet seen are the saddle-billed stork, Denham's bustard, and the shoebill. Also, I could include a number of herons, perhaps the sacred ibis, the white-backed vulture, and Rueppell's griffon vulture. Another day...

Works Cited

• Anderson, M. 2008. Lappet-faced vulture” (On-line), ARKive: Images of Life on Earth. Accessed May 26, 2011. http://www.arkive.org/lappet-faced-vulture/torgos-tracheliotos/#text=Biology
• Bible, J. and T. Root. 2007. "Ardeotis kori" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed May 26, 2011 http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Ardeotis_kori.html.
• BirdLife International (2011) Species factsheet: Balearica regulorum. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 27/05/2011. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2011) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded fromhttp://www.birdlife.org on 27/05/2011.
• Donegan, K. 2002. "Struthio camelus" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed May 26, 2011 http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Struthio_camelus.html.
• Fanshawe, J. and Stevenson, T. Birds of East Africa. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2002. 
• Krause, B. and P. Rasmussen. 2009. "Bucorvus abyssinicus" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed May 27, 2011 http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bucorvus_abyssinicus.html.
• Overholt, W. 2011. "Polemaetus bellicosus" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed May 26, 2011 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Polemaetus_bellicosus.html.
• Ryan, P. and Sinclair, I. Birds of Africa south of the Sahara. Struik Nature: Cape Town, 2003.
• Shirley, E. 2011. "Ardea goliath" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed May 26, 2011 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Ardea_goliath.html.
• Sherman, P. and P. Rasmussen. 2007. "Sagittarius serpentarius" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed May 26, 2011 http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Sagittarius_serpentarius.html.
• Thairu, M. 2011. "Balearica regulorum" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed May 27, 2011 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Balearica_regulorum.html.