NDEGE WETU: A Tribute to the Birds of Kenya (Part 10 – Birds that Catch Your Eye on Safari)
Out on safari in Kenya, most people are looking for the big famous animals like lions, elephants and rhinos and pay little attention to smaller wildlife like birds. There are certain birds, however, that catch people’s attention even if they’re not bird enthusiasts. Their unusual, beautiful or unique appearance makes…
NDEGE WETU: A Tribute to the Birds of Kenya (Part 9 – The Waterbirds)
Waterbirds, those birds that live near water and depend on it for food and breeding sites, are in my opinion the easiest group of birds to observe. If you are still very new to bird watching and want to quickly improve your identification skills, you should probably spend a lot…
NDEGE WETU: A Tribute to the Birds of Kenya (Part 8 -The Grand Architect)
Among animals, birds are renowned for being highly skilled builders, able to construct complex nests made of sticks, grass, mud or other materials. What makes this really amazing is that they do it with nothing but their beak and feet. They do not have the luxury of hands like we…
NDEGE WETU: A Tribute to the Birds of Kenya (Part 7 – Extreme Transformations)
Certain birds have an incredible annual cycle of transformation. Every year, they change from a relatively dull ‘boring’-looking appearance into a vivid, colourful and attractive look. This happens when they change from their non-breeding plumage to their breeding plumage. (Plumage means the colour and arrangement of a bird’s feathers). These…
NDEGE WETU: A Tribute to the Birds of Kenya (Part 6 – The Pest Controllers On Your Farm)
For many farmers in Kenya, pests are a big problem. They destroy your crops or lower the quality of your produce. Most of the time, the culprit is either an invertebrate (e.g. insects) or a rodent (rats, mice, moles etc). And in some cases it’s a bird or another type…
NDEGE WETU: A Tribute to the Birds of Kenya (Part 5 – Visitors from Far and Wide)
Of Kenya’s 1100 or so species of birds, over 200 are migrants – birds that are only in Kenya for part of the year and spend other months somewhere else. Migrants live some very fascinating lives. They are born in a certain part of the world, and then travel huge…