These are the bird species with texts on the BDI website. We have arranged them in groups (such as dove, lark, gull, etc). Within each group, the species are listed alphabetically. Species with their names in italics (such as the Cape Turtle Dove) have recently had their names changed, but the old names are still very much in use by many birders.
For each of these species, the text on the BDI website has been structured into the order we think is the most useful. First comes a section on identification, which starts with annotated photographs, like the ones above. The second section is on distribution. This is illustrated by the distribution map for the species. This comes from the database of the Second Southern African Bird Atlas Project; the interpretation guidelines for these multicoloured maps are here. The third section deals with habitat, and contains photographs which show some typical habitat for the species. The fourth section describes the behaviour of the species. Sometimes there are sections dealing with other aspects of the biology of the species, such as breeding. The photographs mostly come from the BirdPix section of the Virtual Museum.
Many of the texts contain technical terms. We have tried to put explanations of all these terms into a Glossary. This contains a list of all the terms which have been covered.
Batis: Pririt Batis
Bee-eater: European Bee-eater
Bishop: Southern Red Bishop Yellow Bishop
Bokmakierie: Bokmakierie
Bulbul: African Red-eyed Bulbul Cape Bulbul Dark-capped Bulbul
Bunting: Lark-like Bunting
Bustard: Kori Bustard Ludwig’s Bustard
Buzzard: Jackal Buzzard
Canary: Cape Canary White-throated Canary
Chat: Ant-eating Chat Familiar Chat Karoo Chat Sickle-winged Chat Tractrac Chat
Cisticola: Grey-backed Cisticola
Cormorant: White-breasted Cormorant
Courser: Burchell’s Courser Double-banded Courser
Crake: Black Crake
Crane: Blue Crane
Crow: Cape Crow Pied Crow
Darter: African Darter
Cuckoo: Dideric Cuckoo
Dove: Cape Turtle Dove Laughing Dove Namaqua Dove Red-eyed Dove Ring-necked Dove
Drongo: Fork-tailed Drongo
Eagle: African Fish Eagle Booted Eagle Verreaux’s Eagle
Egret: Little Egret Western Cattle Egret
Fiscal: Southern Fiscal
Fish Eagle: African Fish Eagle
Flycatcher: Fairy Flycatcher Fiscal Flycatcher
Goose: Egyptian Goose
Goshawk: Pale Chanting Goshawk
Grebe: Little Grebe
Guineafowl: Helmeted Guineafowl
Gull: Hartlaubs’ Gull Kelp Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull
Hamerkop: Hamerkop
Heron: Black-headed Heron Grey Heron
Honeyguide: Greater Honeyguide
Hoopoe: African Hoopoe
Ibis: African Sacred Ibis Hadada Ibis
Kestrel: Greater Kestrel
Kingfisher: Malachite Kingfisher
Korhaan: Karoo Korhaan
Lapwing: Blacksmith Lapwing Crowned Lapwing
Lark: Botha’s Lark Cape Clapper Lark Eastern Clapper Lark Karoo Lark Large-billed Lark Red Lark Sclater’s Lark Stark’s Lark
Mannikin: Bronze Mannikin
Martin: Rock Martin
Mousebird: Red-faced Mousebird Speckled Mousebird White-backed Mousebird
Owl: Cape Eagle Owl Spotted Eagle Owl
Oystercatcher: African Oystercatcher Eurasian Oystercatcher
Pigeon: Speckled Pigeon
Plover: Kittlitz’s Plover Three-banded Plover
Prinia: Karoo Prinia
Quelea: Red-billed Quelea
Raven: White-necked Raven
Robin-chat: Cape Robin-chat
Rock-thrush: Short-toed Rock-thrush
Sandgrouse: Namaqua Sandgrouse
Scrub-robin: Karoo Scrub-robin
Secretarybird: Secretarybird
Sparrow: Cape Sparrow House Sparrow Southern Grey-headed Sparrow
Sparrow-lark: Black-eared Sparrow-lark Grey-backed Sparrow-lark
Spurfowl: Cape Spurfowl
Starling: Common Starling Pale-winged Starling Red-winged Starling Wattled Starling
Stork: White Stork
Sugarbird: Cape Sugarbird Gurney’s Sugarbird
Sunbird: Dusky Sunbird Malachite Sunbird Southern Double-collared Sunbird
Swallow: Barn Swallow Greater Striped Swallow White-throated Swallow
Swift: Little Swift
Thick-knee: Spotted Thick-knee
Thrush: Olive Thrush
Vulture: Cape Vulture
Turnstone: Ruddy Turnstone
Wagtail: Cape Wagtail
Warbler: Chestnut-vented Warbler Cinnamon-breasted Warbler Namaqua Warbler Rufous-eared Warbler
Waxbill: Common Waxbill Swee Waxbill
Weaver: Cape Weaver Southern Masked Weaver
Wheatear: Capped Wheatear Mountain Wheatear
White-eye: Cape White-eye Orange River White-eye
Whydah: Pin-tailed Whydah
We update these species texts from time to time, mostly by adding information. More important at present is to increase the number of bird species covered. The total is now more than 120, and it grows by several species every month.
Recommended citation format: BDI Admin 2024. Bird species. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at http://thebdi.org/bird-species