Friday, June 13, 2014

African Pied Wagtail

The African pied wagtail is found in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, except some large swaths of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa and is found up through parts of Sudan and Egypt. 
African pied wagtail.
"Pied" means having two or more different colors, but as I am running into the word in the context of birds, it relates to birds that are black and white. As the name implies, the pied wagtail is black and white. It is mostly white underneath, has a white triangular chin, a white streak from the bill to the back of the head, intersecting part of the eye, a white stripe on the back of its neck and it has some white in its feathers. 
Wagtails are small birds with long tails that they "wag" almost constantly. We found this bird in Karatina, Kenya, when we stopped for a bathroom and souvenir shop break. I did not notice at the time, but this bird has a club foot, but seemed to be getting along just fine. 

2 comments:

  1. He looks a little like a robin before color film.

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  2. Or perhaps like Zorro with that mask on his eyes.

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