Gray Kestrel

Crossing the bridge over the Victoria Nile near the Paraa Lodge in Murchison Falls NP we stopped near the end of the bridge to look for birds and one of them we saw was the gray kestrel. 

The first two photos are mine and the last two are my granddaughter's photos. 

It has yellow legs and feet, cere and skin around the eyes; it is dark gray with darker wing tips, faint dark streaking on the body and slightly barred flight feathers. 

Illustration from Birds of the World.

Range from Birds of the World. 

It perches on exposed branches, telephone poles and wires, and seems to particularly like palm trees near water. It likes savannas, open woodlands and forest clearings, but is not found in densely forested regions, like the Congo Basin. It feeds on insects, lizards and small mammals, like bats, but it will also eat oil palm nuts, one of the few birds of prey that eats vegetable matter.  

Black-Winged Kite

While driving in Kidepo Valley NP we encountered a very cool bird near the road in a thorn tree. It was a black-winged kite which forms a superspecies with the white-tailed kite of North and South America and the Australian black-shouldered kite. I've seen the white-tailed kite in Ecuador and in Encinitas, California, but I've not gotten a real good look at one. These are beautiful birds. There are three subspecies and we saw the nominate ssp. caeuleus which is found in the southwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), Africa and southwest Arabia. 

This is a juvenile, which has less reddish eyes and is browner. The adults, with dark red eyes and very white head and breast are spectacular and mystical looking. And even more mystical when hovering above the ground. 

It is predominantly white (or gray) - remember though, this is a juvenile, has a black wing patch, wing tips and eye stripe; 

This is the best view of the black shoulder patch which gives it its name. 

They have distinctive forward facing eyes under a skeletal shelf that shades them.

Illustration from Birds of the World. Also below, flying.

Long-Toed Lapwing

Another new beautiful species of lapwing I saw in Uganda was the long-toed lapwing. It was plentiful in the Mabamba Swamp off Lake Victoria near Entebbe. We were in a wooden boat with a motor and so we were able to get quite close to them. 

This photo was taken by my granddaughter. 

It has a black nape, hindneck, breast, iris and tip of the bill; red eyering, bill (except for the tip), legs and feet; white face, throat; and grayish-brown upperparts. 

Illustration from Birds of the World.

Range from Birds of the World. 

There are two subspecies not worth going into at this time. I saw the nominate ssp. crassirostris. 

Wattled Lapwing

We were in the Narus Valley driving toward the Kidepo Valley in Kidepo Valley NP when we encountered what our guide, William, called wattled lapwings near the road. I've seen red wattled lapwings and yellow-wattled lapwings previously and I kept asking him, "are they yellow wattled lapwings?" 

A red-wattled lapwing seen in Sri Lanka.

A yellow-wattled lapwing seen in Sri Lanka.

Well no, they weren't, they have yellow wattles, but they weren't yellow wattled lapwings they were wattled lapwings. I didn't figure that out until I got home and could make sense out of why William seemed so confused by my question. 

This wattled lapwing has a yellow wattle, but is quite different than the yellow-wattled lapwing. I've found that when I see a bird or two here or there it is easy to conflate similarities and not notice differences. 

Illustration of the wattled lapwing from Birds of the World. 

The wattled lapwing is also known as the African wattled lapwing and Senegal wattled plover. It has a distinctive white forehead and yellow wattle, and what looks like red at the base of the bill or forehead. But a close-up photo on Birds of the World reveals that the red is part of the wattle, so it is really a red and yellow wattled lapwing! The tail is white, tipped black (but you only see the black because of the wings) and the legs, feet and bill are bright yellow. There are several subspecies and it appears that I saw the nominate subspecies, but they're not worth going into at this point.  

Range from Birds of the World. 

I really enjoy the lapwings/plovers. They are good-sized birds that vary quite a bit and have distinctive features. 

Red-Cheeked Cordonbleu

The red-cheeked cordonbleu is found in the drier regions of tropical sub-Saharan Africa. There are four subspecies which vary primarily on the amount of blue on the face and underparts of the female. We saw the ssp. bengalus which is found from south Mauritania to Guinea to Ethiopia, Uganda and west Kenya. The adult male has brown upperparts, pale blue breast, flanks and tail and a yellow belly. There is a red patch on each cheek which can rarely appear orange or yellow. Females are similar, but more dull and do not have the red spot on the cheek. Immature birds are like the female, but only have blue on the face and throat. 

I saw them first on the hill between Nkima Forest Lodge and the Mabamba Swamp above Lake Victoria near Entebbe. I only got a few horribly blurred photos which I haven't used. My best sighting was while I was sitting on the patio of our cottage at the Savannah Lodge just outside Kidepo Valley NP. They were feeding on the ground just below where I was sitting and then I had one land on a wood rail about two feet away from me. That made for good photos. 

On the wooden rail near me at the Savannah Lodge.

On the ground below our patio at the Savannah Lodge.

A female on our walking safari in Kidepo Valley NP. 

A female on the ground below our patio at the Savannah Lodge.

An immature bird somewhere in Kidepo Valley NP. 

Illustration of a male, bengalus, from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a female, bengalus, from Birds of the World. 

Range map from Birds of the World. 

Cuckoo-Finch

The cuckoo-finch, also known as the parasitic weaver and cuckoo weaver is the last of the four species of Viduidae I encountered in Uganda. We were in Kidepo Valley NP with our guide William and ranger Zachary, near the small Apoka airfield when Zachary called our attention to a small yellow-bird ahead of us standing in the weeds. He said it was an important bird and I should remember it. So I took lots of photos. The cuckoo-finch lays its eggs in the nests of cisticolas and prinias. The young cuckoo-finch is raised by its host and the host's own young usually disappear but have been known to survive. 

The cuckoo-finch has a short tail and short stubby bill. The upper mandible is laterally compressed, the culmen (the dorsal ridge of the upper mandible) is ridged and straight, the lower mandible is bulbous and deeper than the upper mandible. The male in breeding plumage, which is what I saw, has streaked black above, bright yellow with fine dark streaks below, and a black bill. I won't go into the female or male in non-breeding plumage, as I did not see them.  

Illustration of a female cuckoo-finch from Birds of the World. I did not see a female, but the male/female contrast needs to be shown. 

Range of the cuckoo-finch from Birds of the World. 

There are two subspecies listed in Birds of the World with no information about the differences between them. The given ranges of the two subspecies do not mention Uganda, but ssp. butleri lists South Sudan which is very close to Kidepo Valley NP and probably the ssp. I saw. It is widespread, but uncommon and local. The patchy distribution prevents making reasonable population estimates.