Known as one of the “big five”, “Black Death” or “widowmaker” in Africa, the African buffalo is widely regarded as a very dangerous animal, as it gores and kills over 200 people every year. Buffalo are sometimes reported to kill more people in Africa than any other animal, although the same claim is also made of hippos and crocodiles. Buffalo are notorious among big game hunters as very dangerous animals, with wounded animals reported to ambush and attack pursuers.
Dhole is the only extant member of the genus Cuon, which differs from Canis by the reduced number of molars and greater number of teats. The dholes are classed as endangered by the IUCN, due to ongoing habitat loss, depletion of its prey base, competition from other predators, persecution and possibly diseases from domestic and feral dogs. Though fearful of humans, dhole packs are bold enough to attack large and dangerous animals such as wild boar, water buffalo, and even tigers.
The African Hoopoe is distinguished from the Eurasian Hoopoe or the Common Hoopoe by the colouring of the male (the females are similar). The male African Hoopoe is a richer cinnamon colour above, lacks the subterminal white band on the crest and has all black primaries. Habits and vocalisations are the same in both species.
The African elephant is the largest living terrestrial animal. The genus Loxodonta in Greek stands for ‘oblique-sided tooth’
Spot-billed duck or simply Spotbill has three subspecies: the Indian Spot-billed Duck (A. poecilorhyncha poecilorhyncha), Eastern Spot-billed Duck (A. poecilorhyncha zonorhyncha), and Burmese Spot-billed Duck (A. poecilorhyncha haringtoni). An interesting trivia is that in the Japanese manga and anime One Piece, there is a “Super Spot-billed Duck” named Karoo which is owned by Nefertari Vivi. Also, the Farfetch’d species in the Pokémon series is possibly based on the spot-billed duck. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island the character Huffin’ Puffins’ Japanese name “karugamo” corresponds to the name of the Anas poecilorhyncha.
These birds utilize barbet and woodpecker holes for nesting and surprising for me they can excavate their own if needed – the beak just does not look powerful enough….
Easily identified by broad black line (wider in the male) down yellow front, Often a short yellow superilium in front of eye. Large black crest, neck, throat and head
Rollers get their name from their impressive courtship flight, a fast, shallow dive from considerable elevation with a rolling or fast rocking motion, accompanied by loud raucous calls. Have been lucky enough to see this display many times in Indian rollers but could never capture it. This picture of Lilac-breasted rollers we were particularly lucky to get 2 pairs indulging in courtship display…
Long-legged Buzzards from the Balkan and Russia are mostly migratory and spend the winter in northern Afrika or in the Sahel. Some birds spend the winter in Hungary or Greece. Sometimes Long-legged Buzzards are seen farther in the west, for example in Austria and Germany.
A map on Wikipedia shows that the ones found in India are in a mixed range, some are winter migrants and some are part of the permanent range.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-legged_Buzzard
https://www.europeanraptors.org/raptors/long_legged_buzzard.html
Another mystery solved for me. I had often wondered why some Ashy Prinia show supercilium and others don’t. Wikipedia informs me “In breeding plumage, adults of the northern population are ash grey above, with a black crown and cheek with no supercilium and rufescent wings. In non-breeding season this population has a short and narrow white supercilium and the tail is longer”
Psst… Supercilium is a synonym for eyebrow 😉