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Birding
In Botswana’s wet season, the salt pans flood and hundreds of migrating flamingos and pelicans return to breed. The birds’ journey from as far as the Great Rift Valley to feast on millions of tiny shrimps that lie dormant in the salt crust until the rains.
It’s a bird watchers paradise!
The Nata Bird Sanctuary is located 170km northwest of Francistown and 20km south of Nata and the eastern tip of the Makgadikgadi Pans.
The Nata Bird Sanctuary is home to many species of African mammal wildlife and birdlife; in fact, most of the animals in this protected area are African birds – reinforcing the name of ‘Nata Bird Sanctuary’. Coming to the Nata Bird Sanctuary on Botswana Safari will bring you to the homing grounds for so many birds, including Flamingos, Pelicans, Ducks, Geese, Ostriches, Kingfisher Eagles, Spoon Bills and more. There are about 165 bird species that can be found in the Nata Bird Sanctuary. (Source:
jenmansafaris.com)
Pelican
Pelicans are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, except for the brown and Peruvian pelicans. Wikipedia
Modern pelicans are found on all continents except Antarctica. They primarily inhabit warm regions, although breeding ranges extend to latitudes of 45° South (Australian pelicans in Tasmania) and 60° North (American white pelicans in western Canada).[4] Birds of inland and coastal waters, they are absent from polar regions, the deep ocean, oceanic islands (except the Galapagos), and inland South America, as well as from the eastern coast of South America from the mouth of the Amazon River southwards.[16] Subfossil bones have been recovered from as far south as New Zealand’s South Island,[57] although their scarcity and isolated occurrence suggests that these remains may have merely been vagrants from Australia (much as is the case today).
Adult American White Pelicans are snowy white with black flight feathers visible only when the wings are spread. A small patch of ornamental feathers on the chest can become yellow in spring. The bill and legs are yellow orange. Immatures are mostly white as well, but the head, neck, and back are variably dusky.
The most common predators that target eggs and pelican chicks include reptiles, alligators, wild dogs and cats, and raccoons. Sharks and sea lions attack adult pelicans individually, which is why they fly in flocks over water. Many species of animals hunt the brown pelican.
A group of pelicans is called a pod. Actually, there are many other names for pelican groupings — a pouch, a scoop, a squadron or if they are fishing as a group, a fleet.
Greater Flamingos
The genus Phoenicopterus was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae to accommodate a single species, the American flamingo Phoenicopterus rubber. The genus name is Latin for “flamingo”. Wikipedia
Flamingos are wading birds that are easily recognized by their long, stilt-like legs and rosy color. The name “flamingo” comes from the Portuguese and Spanish word flamingo, which means “flame colored.” The genus name Phoenicopterus comes from the Greek word Phoenicopterus, which means “blood red feathered.”
Phoenicopterus is a genus of birds in the flamingo family Phoenicopteridae.
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