Birds in Zambia

Coraciiformes

Birds are a very large family of animals, so many, that they are broken down into groups by order, according to the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy- a new and increasingly approved taxonomy based on DNA analysis, as opposed to the older taxonomy, which was more based on appearance, geography, and behavior.

This beautiful bird is the national bird of Zambia. Rollers are so-named due to aerial stunts they perform (rolling) during mating rituals and to confuse predators. They feed on small insects and lizards, and occasionally have been known to snack on a small bird.

Here's another one perched high up in a tree. The Lilac-Breasted Roller was my favorite bird of Africa (Fisher's Lovebird being close behind), due to it's wide color variation.

They are largely unafraid of humans, so you can get in pretty close sometimes.

The Malachite Kingfisher is widely distributed in Africa. It stays close to water, flying with rapidly whirring wings until it catches a fish or insect or even crustacean. It nests in the sandy shores, digging a small tunnel in which it lays it's eggs on fish bones and its feces.

This is the same algae-covered pond in which I photographed a baby crocodile and several other species of birds.

My wife spotted this racket-tailed roller on the ground when we were starting out on our perimeter walk in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park (Victoria Falls).

It took me a while to identify this one until I figured out it was a juvenile. Adults have a forked, or racket, tail. It has all the proper colorations, just a different tail.

They perch in high woodlands and are not quite as accessible as the lilac-breasted cousin, though this one was just a few feet away from us.

The Swallow-Tailed Bee-Eater is the only bee-eater in the region to have a forked tail. It has a pretty broad range across southern Africa.

As their name suggests, they eat primarily bees, honeybees in particular, as their range overlays the same range of the honeybees. They will also eat wasps and hornets and most other insects as well, catching them only in mid-air.

They will rap their prey on a hard surface to remove the stinger and squeeze out the venom before eating it.

We saw these in South Luangwa National Park while we were on our walking safari.

We spotted this very colorful White-Fronted Bee-Eater on the Zambezi River just up from Victoria Falls while we were on a sunset river cruise. It's a bit blurry as the boat was moving by and the light was beginning to wane.