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On the recent Queens County Bird Club field trip to Kissena Park in search of migrating sparrows, field birds, and whatever else might cross our path, I was distracted by some male House Finches Carpodacus mexicanus feeding on, or, to be more accurate, pigging out on, crabapples.  They were so intent on eating the apples [...]

Though I have already done a post on the Desert Finch of the Kazakhi deserts I felt that the similar Mongolian Finch (Rhodopechys mongolicus), sometimes known as the Mongolian Trumpeter Finch, deserved its own blog post as well.  These shots were taken at a completely different waterhole than where the Desert Finches were drinking and [...]

On our last day in Kazakhstan we birders traveled hundreds of kilometers to the east of Almaty in order to explore the desert environment there.  And while many birds were viewed, none were quite as fascinating to me as the two pink-winged finches we spotted, the Desert Finch and the Mongolian Finch.  This post, of [...]

Purple Grenadier Uraeginthus Ianthinogaster
Nairobi, Kenya

The Purple Grenadier Uraeginthus Ianthinogaster, found in subtropical and tropical dry shrubland in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, is a beautiful waxbill, closely related to the equally gorgeous Violet-eared Waxbill of southern Africa. Locally common in Kenya, it’s predominantly a bird of the highlands so is mostly absent from [...]

Cape Canary Serinus canicollis
Kirstenbosch and the Karoo. September 2006
 

Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens, September
 
 

(with Black-headed Canary in background)
 

Tanqua Karoo, September

 
Photographs copyright Charlie Moores
 

Black-headed Canary Crithagra/Serinus alario
Tankwa Karroo, South Africa

A locally common endemic to southern Africa the striking nominate form of the Black-headed Canary is found in a wide variety of habitats from scrub and upland grassland, gardens, and the arid open grasslands of the Karoo where this male was photographed. Outside the breeding season the species wanders [...]