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Hi there,

I need your help again in identifying the following bird:

Larger View

Same has been spotted on 23.02.08 around Mopani Restcamp.

Thanks so much for your help

Hard one Pumbaa, at first I thought a Chestnut Weaver - female but looking at location that is not possible so I will carry on searching.

Pumbaa, looking at your pic the lighting is a bit confusing. In my opinion, your bird is either the female or non breeding male redcollared widow, the bill is that of a widow if i look at it- heavy. Also the sort of baggy eyes with white eye stripe. Another pointer i can see is the buff striped head? This bird seems to have a double longish tail which i would say is characteristic of these birds. Female longtailed widow is another option but i cant seem to see a black nasal stripe due to the lighting. So my best bet is female or non breeding male redcollared widow.

Pumbaa,

It is not easy to id this bird at all. The bill points to it being one of the Lark species IMO. And I lean very much towards it being a Sparrowlark.

Female Chestnut-Backed Sparrowlark to be precise.

Let us see if we can get to it:

Habitat: Check.
Feint whitish color on hind neck: it would seem so.
Heavy bill: Check.
White vent: Check.
White cheek: Check.

Furthermore it lacks a distinct eyebrow and the white above the eye seems to be restricted to a upper half of a white eye ring.

I will say that it is a Female Chestnut-Backed Sparrowlark. Did you perhaps see any males in the vicinity? You would've seen her at the end of a their peak breeding season and thus normally in company of a male. Other times they are gregarious in quite a big flock.

They very rarely perch in trees though! So if it is a Female Chestnut-Backed Sparrowlark, which I am pretty sure it is, then you did well to get it sitting in a tree.