Hadeda ibis (Hadeda)

Scientific name: Bostrychia hagedash

The hadeda is a large (about 76 cm long), grey-to-partly brown species of ibis. It has a narrow, white, roughly horizontal stripe across its cheeks. This is sometimes called the "moustache" though it does not reach the mouth corners. The plumage over the wings has an iridescent purple sheen. The bird has blackish legs and a large grey-to-black bill with a red stripe on the upper mandible. The upper surfaces of the toes are of a similar red. The wings are powerful and broad, enabling quick take-offs and easy manoeuvring through dense tree cover.
It generally prefers open grassland with well-wooded valleys and patches of dense woodland, also occurring in clearings in forest, marshes with short grass, moist grassland, irrigated croplands with lucerne and clover (Medicago), playing fields, pastures, airfields and lawns in suburbia.

It mainly eats invertebrates, doing most of its foraging on moist ground, probing for prey or taking them from the soil surface.

Swee waxbill (Suidelike swie)

Scientific name: Coccopygia melanotis

The swee waxbill is 9–10 cm long with a grey head and breast, pale yellow belly, olive back and wings, red lower back and rump, and a black tail. The upper mandible is black and the lower red. The male has a black face, but the female's face is grey.
Endemic to southern Africa, occurring from the Limpopo Province south through Swaziland and the extreme south-west of Mozambique to KwaZulu-Natal, extending east to the Eastern and Western Cape. It generally prefers edges of montane and coastal forest, wooded valleys in fynbos, bushy hillsides, grassy clearings in woodland, plantations and gardens.
It mainly eats seeds taken directly from grasses, supplemented with insects caught on the ground and in vegetation.

African Pipit, Grassveld Pipit (Gewone koester)

Scientific name: Anthus cinnamomeus

The African pipit is 15 to 17 cm long and is a slender bird with an erect stance. It is buffy-brown above with darker streaks. The underparts are white or pale buff with a streaked breast and plain belly and flanks. The face is boldly patterned with a pale stripe over the eye and a dark malar stripe. The outer tail-feathers are white. The legs are long and pinkish and the slender bill is dark with a yellowish base to the lower mandible.
Here it is common across much of the region excluding arid areas of Namibia, south-western Botswana and western South Africa. It generally prefers moist grassland, lightly wooded savanna, dry flood plains, recently burnt grassland, roadsides, playing fields and agricultural land.
It mainly eats insects and other arthropods, doing most of its foraging on the ground, sifting through debris in search of food and occasionally hawking prey aerially.

Orange-breasted sunbird (Oranjeborssuikerbekkie)

Scientific name: Anthobaphes violacea

As with other sunbirds the bill is long and decurved, that of the male being longer than that of the female. The bill, legs and feet are black. The eye is dark brown.
The head, throat and mantle of the male are bright metallic green. The rest of the upper parts are olive green. The upper breast is metallic violet and the lower breast is bright orange, fading to paler orange and yellow on the belly. The tail is long and blackish, with elongated central tail feathers, which extend some way, belong the other feathers.
The female has olive-greenish grey upperparts and olive yellowish underparts, paler on the belly. The wings and tail is blackish. The juvenile resembles the female.
Endemic to the fynbos biome of the Western and Eastern Cape, South Africa, generally preferring dense stands of Protea and Erica. It also occurs in coastal renosterveld and occasionally gardens, provided that there are enough nectar producing plants such as Aloe.
It eats nectar supplemented with small arthropods, gleaning them from leaves and branches, plucking from the ground and occasionally hawking insects aerially.

Common starling, European starling (Europese spreeu)

Scientific name: Sturnus vulgaris 

The plumage is iridescent black, glossed purple or green, and spangled with white, especially in winter. The underparts of adult male common starlings are less spotted than those of adult females at a given time of year. The throat feathers of males are long and loose and are used in display while those of females are smaller and more pointed. The legs are stout and pinkish- or greyish-red. The bill is narrow and conical with a sharp tip; in the winter it is brownish-black but in summer, females have lemon yellow beaks while males have yellow bills with blue-grey bases.
 It mainly occurs in the southern half of South Africa, and is by far the most common in urban and agricultural areas.
It mainly eats arthropods supplemented with fruit, seeds and nectar, doing most of its foraging on the ground, plucking food items up or probing the soil for underground prey.

Cape sugarbird (Kaapse suikervoël)

Scientific name: Promerops cafer

Male

Male

Female

Female

The Cape sugarbird is a grey-brown bird that easily recognisable by a spot of yellow under its tail and the very long tail feathers present in males. The female is shorter-tailed and shorter-billed. A characteristic of the Cape sugarbird is the sound it makes when it flies. The main flight feathers are arranged in such a way that when the bird beats its wings, a frrt-frrt sound is made with the intention of attracting females.
Endemic to the fynbos biome of the Western Cape extending into the Eastern Cape, as it is highly dependent on Protea's for nectar and nesting sites.
It mainly feeds on the nectar of Protea, Leucospermum and Mimetes, making it a major pollinator of the protea family (Proteaceae), partly because it can visit around 300 flowers per day. It also drinks the nectar of other plants and hawks insects aerially, it is was even observed attempting to drink nectar from coloured clothing pegs!

Pearl-breasted Swallow (Pêrelborsswael)

Scientific name: Hirundo dimidiata 

It has glossy blue upperparts and grey-white underparts. The upper wings, underwing flight feathers and forked tail are blackish-blue. The underwing coverts are a darker shade of grey-white. The lack of white in the tail is a distinction from similar Hirundo species. The outer feathers are slightly longer in the male than the female. Juveniles are duller and browner than the adult, with shorter outer tail feathers.
The pearl-breasted swallow is sparsely distributed, but can be locally common. In southern South Africa it prefers valley bushveld, lowland fynbos and farmland.
It mainly eats insects, supplemented occasionally with grass seeds. It forages low on the ground (often below the canopy in woodland), hawking flying insects such as termite alates. It also catches prey flushed by fires, cars or horses.

Little Swift (Kleinwindswael)

Scientific name: Apus affinis

Little swifts are readily identified by their small size. Their wingspan is 33 cm compared to the 42 cm of common swift. They are black except for a white rump, the white extending on to the flanks. They have a short square tail. The flight is fluttering like a house martin.
The Little swift occurs almost everywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. It generally prefers built up areas (with large buildings) or cliffs, rocks and crags, foraging in the surrounding habitat.
It eats exclusively arthropods, such as termite alates, dragonflies, grasshoppers, Spiders and mantids, often hunting them at high altitudes.

Rock Pigeon, Speckled pigeon (Bosduif, Kransduif)

Scientific name: Columba guinea

This is a large pigeon at 41 cm in length. Its back and wings are rufous, the latter heavily speckled with white spots. The rest of the upperparts and underparts are blue-grey, and the head is grey with red patches around the eye. The neck is brownish, streaked with white, and the legs are red. The call is a loud doo-doo-doo.
With in southern Africa it is common in western and central Namibia, southern Botswana, Zimbabwe (marginally extending into Mozambique), Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa. It generally prefers rocky areas with mountains, cliffs and gorges, but  it has recently taken to urban and rural buildings, where it often roosts and nests.
Feeds mainly on seeds, rarely eating fruits and leaves. It typically forages on the ground, usually on farmland, lawns or roads.

Swift Tern (Geelbeksterretjie)

Scientific name: Sterna bergii

The swift tern (greater crested tern) is a large tern with a long (5.4–6.5 cm, 2.1–2.6 in) yellow bill, black legs, and a glossy black crest that is noticeably shaggy at its rear. The forehead and the underparts are white, the back and inner wings are dusky-grey. In winter, the upperparts plumage wears to a paler grey, and the crown of the head becomes white, merging at the rear into a peppered black crest and mask.
In southern Africa it is common along the entire coastline of the region, generally preferring lagoons, estuaries, coastal islands and exposed ocean beaches.
Mainly eats pelagic schooling fish, doing most of its foraging within sight of land, plunge-diving or dipping into the sea to catch prey.

Antarctic Tern (Grysborssterretjie)

Scientific name: Sterna vittata

The Antarctic tern is a small bird at 31–38 cm (12-15 inches) long. Its bill is usually a dark red or blackish. It is mainly pale grey and white, but has a black cap when breeding. In non-breeding plumage it has a grizzled crown and white forehead. The tips of this tern's wings are greyish black.
Here it is locally fairly common along the coast of the Western Cape, while more scarce in the Eastern Cape, spending most of its time at sea before returning to rocky offshore islands to roost.
Mainly eats shoaling fish, such as Anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus), as well as krill (Euphausia), doing most of its foraging by grabbing prey from the water surface or plunge-diving into calm water.

Arctic tern (Arktiese sterretjie)

Scientific name: Sterna paradisaea 

The Arctic tern is a medium-sized bird. The beak is dark red, as are the short legs and webbed feet. Like most terns, the Arctic tern has high aspect ratio wings and a tail with a deep fork. The adult plumage is grey above, with a black nape and crown and white cheeks. The upperwings are pale grey, with the area near the wingtip being translucent. The tail is white, and the underparts pale grey. Both sexes are similar in appearance. The winter plumage is similar, but the crown is whiter and the bills are darker.
Within southern Africa it is uncommon off the west coast, while more scarce further out to sea and off the southern and eastern coast of the region.
Mainly eats small fish, doing most of its foraging by rapidly flying over the sea, hovering once it spots prey before plunge-diving into the water.

Common tern (Gewone sterretjie)

Scientific name: Sterna hirundo

Breeding adults have pale grey upperparts, very pale grey underparts, a black cap, orange-red legs, and a narrow pointed bill that can be mostly red with a black tip, or all black, depending on the subspecies. The common tern's upperwings are pale grey, but as the summer wears on, the dark feather shafts of the outer flight feathers become exposed, and a grey wedge appears on the wings. The rump and tail are white, and on a standing bird the long tail extends no further than the folded wingtips, unlike the Arctic and roseate terns in which the tail protrudes beyond the wings. There are no significant differences between the sexes.[19] In non-breeding adults the forehead and underparts become white, the bill is all black or black with a red base, and the legs are dark red or black.[19] The upperwings have an obvious dark area at the front edge of the wing, the carpal bar.
It is a very common non-breeding migrant to the coast of southern Africa, occurring in pretty much all coastal habitats.
Mainly eats small fish and crustaceans, doing most of its foraging by flying over water while looking downwards; if prey is spotted it momentarily hovers before plunge-diving to catch the animal.

Kelp Gull, Southern Black-backed gull (Swartrugmeeu)

Scientific name: Larus dominicanus

The adult kelp gull has black upperparts and wings. The head, underparts, tail, and the small "mirrors" at the wing tips are white. The bill is yellow with a red spot, and the legs are greenish-yellow (brighter and yellower when breeding, duller and greener when not breeding). The call is a strident ki-och. Juveniles have dull legs, a black bill, a dark band in the tail, and an overall grey-brown plumage densely edged whitish, but they rapidly get a pale base to the bill and largely white head and underparts. They take three or four years to reach maturity.
In southern Africa it is common along the coast of Namibia and South Africa while scarce in Mozambique, occupying a variety of marine and coastal habitats (including areas disturbed my humans).
Opportunistic forager and scavenger, with individuals differing in their diet preference, although it is usually consists of mainly invertebrates, especially mussels.

Hartlaub's Gull (Hartlaubse meeu)

Scientific name: Larus hartlaubii

It is a mainly white gull with a grey back and upperwings, black wingtips with conspicuous white "mirrors", and a dark red bill and legs. When breeding it has a very faint lavender grey hood, but otherwise has a plain white head. Sexes are similar. This species differs from the slightly larger grey-headed gull in its thinner, darker bill, deeper red legs, paler, plainer head, and dark eyes.
It generally prefers coastal habitats, especially if disturbed by human activity, in fact approximately half of its population occurs in man-made areas.
It mainly eats fish and aquatic invertebrates, doing most of its foraging by seizing prey from the water surface while swimming, plunge-diving, scavenging in the wake of trawlers, plucking food from the ground or hawking termite alates aerially.

Grey Headed Gull (Gryskopmeeu)

Scientific name: Larus cirrocephalus

The grey-headed gull is slightly larger than the black-headed gull at 42 cm length. The summer adult has a pale grey head, a grey body, darker in tone than the black-headed, and red bill and legs. The black tips to the primary wing feathers have conspicuous white "mirrors". The underwing is dark grey with black wingtips. The grey hood is lost in winter, leaving just dark streaks. Sexes are similar.
Within southern Africa it is fairly common in western and northern Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip), northern Botswana, north-western Zimbabwe, eastern Mozambique and central and southern South Africa. It generally prefers coastal islands, estuaries, lagoons, harbours, pans, dams, fresh and alkaline lakes, large rivers and sewage ponds.
Like most gulls it is a highly opportunistic feeder, mainly eating aquatic invertebrates as well as a variety of small vertebrates. It does most of its foraging in flocks over water, plucking prey from the surface or moving to rubbish dumps and picnic sites to feed on food scraps.

Sabine's Gull (Mikstertmeeu)

Scientific name: Larus sabini

The wings are long, thin and pointed with a span of between 81 to 87 cm (32–34 in). The bill, which is black with a yellow tip, is around 2.5 cm (0.98 in) long.
This species is easy to identify through its striking wing pattern. The adult has a pale grey back and wing coverts, black primary flight feathers and white secondaries. The white tail is forked. The male's hood darkens during breeding season. Young birds have a similar tricoloured wing pattern, but the grey is replaced by brown, and the tail has a black terminal band. Juveniles take two years to attain full adult plumage. They have a very high-pitched and squeaking call.
Within southern Africa it is common offshore of Namibia and western South Africa, while more scarce along the southern coast up to KwaZulu-Natal. It spends most of its time out to sea on the continental shelf, and is rarely seen ashore.

Common Ringed Plover (Ringnekstrandkiewiet)

Scientific name: Charadrius hiaticula

They have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes and a short orange and black bill. The legs are orange and only the outer two toes are slightly webbed, unlike the slightly smaller but otherwise very similar semipalmated plover, which has all three toes slightly webbed, and also a marginally narrower breast band; it was in former times included in the present species. Juvenile ringed plovers are duller than the adults in colour, with an often incomplete grey-brown breast band, a dark bill and dull yellowish-grey legs.
This species differs from the smaller little ringed plover in leg colour, the head pattern, and the lack of an obvious yellow eye-ring.
In southern Africa it is common along the coast, as well as in northern and south-eastern Botswana, southern Mozambique and patches of Namibia and central South Africa.  It generally prefers estuaries and lagoons on the coastline, while inland it favours mud and sand banks along the shore of rivers and wetlands, sewage works and salt pans.
It mainly eats aquatic invertebrates, foraging by day and night using the technique typical of plovers, repeatedly running, stopping then searching for prey to pluck from the ground or water surface.

Kittlitz Plover (Geelborsstrandkiewiet)

Scientific name: Charadrius pecuarius

 In breeding plumage it has a grey-brown back, crown, and wings, an orange breast shading to white on the lower belly, and long dark grey legs. The forehead and throat are white, with black lores and a black frontal bar, the latter extending as a stripe down the sides of the neck and around the hind neck.
In winter, the adults lose the distinctive face pattern and resemble Kentish plovers, but they are smaller, longer-legged and longer-billed. They have less uniform upperparts than Kentish, and always show a pink or orange breast colouration. Juvenile Kittlitz’s plovers are similar to winter adults, but the underpart colour is often restricted to just a narrow gorget. In flight, the primary flight feathers are dark with a short white wing bar.
Generally they prefer open dry mudflats with short grass, usually close to water. It also occupies estuaries, natural pans, salt-marshes, flood plains and commercial salt pans, occasionally moving to airfields, golf courses, overgrazed pastures and ploughed fields
The Kittlitz’s plover forages for food on open dry mud and short grass, usually close to water. It mainly eats small invertebrates, especially beetles, foraging by day and night using the typical run-stop-search technique of plover.

African Black Oystercatcher (Swarttobie)

Scientific name: Haematopus moquini 

The African oystercatcher is a large, noisy wader, with completely black plumage, red legs and a strong broad red bill. The sexes are similar in appearance, however, females are larger and have a slightly longer beak than males. Juveniles have soft grey plumage and do not express the characteristic red legs and beak until after they fledged. The call is a distinctive loud piping, very similar to Eurasian oystercatchers. As the Eurasian oystercatcher is a migratory species they only occur as a vagrant in southern Africa, and its black-and-white plumage makes confusion impossible.
he African oystercatcher is native to the mainland coasts and offshore islands of Southern Africa sometimes occurring as a vagrant in Angola and Mozambique. Its breeding range extends from Lüderitz, Namibia to Mazeppa Bay, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It generally prefers rocky and/or sandy shores of islands or the mainland, occasionally moving to lagoons, estuaries and coastal pans.
It mainly eats mussels and other aquatic invertebrates, doing most of its foraging in the intertidal zone, dislodging molluscs from rocks with a jab of its bill or probing the sand for other animals.