How to identify that bird you saw in the Kruger National Park.
It can be very difficult to identify a bird especially when you only see it it at a distance or for a short time only. This search facility has been created to make it easier for you. However before doing a search read the notes CAREFULLY ...
Notes | How to use this search effectively...
First of all this site is new and until Google indexes all pages the search may not work as well as it will later. If you want to identify a bird accurately and quickly you will need to do the following to reduce the number of possibilities that will match your criteria. For example it will not help just to look for a bird with black legs
- You must be very specific in entering the search terms if you want to minimise searches. I will give an example below.
- You must use inverted commas around each search phrases as you will see in the example.
- Only use the colours shown in the table below for each part of the bird's body. Do not use adjectives such as "light, dark, mixed, stripes etc".
- The search is not perfect but will certainly help you a great deal in identifying the bird.
- Because the search is powered by Google you will see relevant results.
Enter search term exactly as follows ... "head is COLOUR" + "eye is COLOUR" + "bill is COLOUR" + "throat is COLOUR" + "Back is COLOUR" + "Legs are COLOUR". Of course substitue the word COLOUR for the actual colour (see table below).
You only need to add a phrase for the information you have eg ... if you only have eye colour and bill colour then you just type those 2 sections into the search box. However the more of these variables you type in the easier it will be to identify the bird from the list returned. You can use either upper or lower case or mix of both.
Try this example ... type EXACTLY as below ...
"Eye is brown" + "throat is white" + "Legs are red" + "back is black" + "Bill is carmine".
This is the answer you will get if you typed correctly ...
1.
Grey-headed
Kingfisher ( Halcyon leucocephala fam. Dacelonidae) Kruger Park Birds ...
plumage and colours Head is grey. Eye is brown. Bill
is carmine. Throat is white. Back
is black. Legs colour is red. This bird
has normally proportioned leg length. Main diet items
http://www.thekruger.com/knpbirds/halcyonleucocephala.htm
This is the only bird in the Kruger Park that matches such a description.
It is important to only use those colours shown in the table below. Do NOT use any other colour because they do not appear in the data base. These colours are those used in Roberts 7th edition.
Table showing colours to use for searching for unidentified birds
Eye | Bill | Back | Back | Head | Head | Throat | Throat | Legs |
black | black | black | grey, brown | black | grey | azure | pink | black |
blue | blackish brown | blackish brown | grey, olive | blackish brown | grey, black | black | pink, red | black, grey |
brown | blue | black, blue | grey, pink | black, blue, white | grey, brown | black, brown | purple | black, red |
brown, red | blue, grey | black, brown | grey, white | black, brown | grey, olive | black, grey | purple, black | blue |
chestnut | brown | black, grey | maroon | black, grey | grey, pink | black, purple | red | blue, green |
cream | carmine | black, purple | mauve | black, purple | grey, white | black, red | reddish brown | blue, grey |
crimson | crimson | black, white | olive | black, red | mauve, pink | black, white | red, brown | blue, pink |
green | green | blue | olive, brown | black, white | olive | blue | scarlet | brown |
grey | greenish black | blue, black | olive, green | blue | olive, brown | blue-green | umber | brown, pink |
hazel | greenish yellow | blue, green | olive, grey | blue-green | olive, green | blue, black | violet | crimson |
orange | grey | blue, grey | orange, yellow | blue, black | olive, grey | blue, green | white | green |
red | grey, black | blue, purple | pink | blue, chestnut | orange | blue, grey | white | grey |
red brown | grey, green | bronze, green | pink, red | blue, green | pink | brown | white, black | grey, black |
reddish brown | grey, white | bronze, pink | purple | blue, grey | pink, red | brown, black | white, brown | grey, pink |
red, brown | ivory | brown | purple, black | blue, purple | purple | brown, white | white, chestnut | grey, white |
sepia | mauve | brownish green | purple, brown | bronze | purple, blue | chestnut | white, grey | olive |
white | olive | brown, black | purplish-black | bronze, green | purple, brown | chrome | yellow | orange |
white, yellow | orange | brown, blue | red | brown | red | cinnamon | orange, yellow | |
yellow | pink | brown, grey | red, brown | brown, grey | red, brown | cream | pink | |
pink, black | chestnut | red, olive | brown, white | red, pink | green | pink, brown | ||
purple | cinnamon | scarlet | chestnut | scarlet | green, black | purple | ||
red | copper | umber | cinnamon | silver, grey | grey | purplish red | ||
scarlet | cream | velvet | cream | umber | grey, black | red | ||
white | green | violet | golden, rufous | velvet | grey, brown | red, pink | ||
yellow | green, olive | white | green | white | grey, white | white | ||
green, yellow | white, black | greenish blue | white, black | grey, yellow | yellow | |||
grey | yellow | green, black | white, brown | lilac | yellowish pink | |||
grey, black | yellow, brown | green, brown | white, grey | mauve | yellow, green | |||
grey, blue | yellow, green | green, olive | yellow | orange |