- Burhinus capensis
Identification
34cm. Short, yellow and brown beak, brownish black streaks on head and back, dark brown streak appears from under the eye to the ear covers and a white streak stretches below the eye to the cheek. White feathers surround the eyes of the bird. The upper parts of the body and wings have brown, white and black splotches. Wings are brown and grey, tipped with black and have white edges surrounding them. The underpart and the mid throat of the bird is white, and the breast is light brown with black streaks. Green-grey long legs with three toed, webbed feet. Sexes similar. Juveniles have grey freckled wing-coverts and a slightly vermiculated tail and upper parts of the body.
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Taxonomy
Subspecies1
- B. c. maculosus - Senegal to Somalia, Uganda and Kenya
- B. c. dodsoni - Coastal Somalia and Saudi Arabia
- B. c. capensis - Kenya to South Africa and west from Zambia to Angola
- B. c. damarensis - Namibia to Botswana and Cape Province
Habitat
Dry open areas, grasslands, semi-deserts and urban areas.
Behaviour
The diet includes grass seeds, insects and other invertebrates, small lizards, rodents, snails, crabs and frogs.
References
- Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2008. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.`1
