tags: Kori Bustard, Ardeotis kori, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Kori Bustard, Ardeotis kori, photographed in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 15 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, ISO 400, 1/2000 sec, f/8. Exp Comp -1.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This African mystery bird is quite remarkable: if you can identify this recognizable species, then you'll also be able to tell me why this bird is so remarkable. I'm also wondering if it's possible to identify the bug on the camera lens from its silhouette.
This bird is remarkable because it is one of the heaviest of all flying birds.
Dan Logen, the photographer, says that the "bug on the camera lens" really wasn't on the lens at all. This insect was actually captured on film as it flew towards the bird in preparation to attack it -- Dan thinks it might be a tsetse fly, but isn't sure.
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Is this the world's heaviest flying bird? It is certainly the heaviest in Africa.
I don't do bugs! unless you class moths as bugs, that is.
Beat me to it, Adrian. Yup, if not *the* heaviest, it's among 'em. I'd love to see one of these bad boys take off!
I'm not really a bugster either, except for odes, leps, and robber flies.
If this is what I think it is, it made a guest appearance in one of the later Patrick O'Brien books (the Aubrey/Maturin series) when Stephen Maturin and his bird-loving love find one in the marshes. One of the *ahem* best romance scenes in literature, given its avian theme...
Aaaaand...totally wrong. Please ignore the post above (though I do still love Goliath herons, that is really not what this is!)
So, does this mean Jana is busted? :)
I think this is a Kori bustard?
I found it! There are only 3 other bustards (ibid)--the Kori(s) in Africa are called "rubber turkeys" by Boers because of their fondness for the rubbery resin of acacia trees. The breeding males inflate their throats to 4 times normal size.
(If it isn't a mosquito, I don't know it--they'll follow me anywhere!)
Most definitely one of the heaviest flying birds, although the title may also belong to its great relative.
It has closer cousins in Arabia, India and Australia.
Bardiac, I respond to that as one does to all puns: with an aloof dignity and refusal to respond, masking one's jealousy that one did not make said pun oneself.
It's a wonder I got through that sentence intact.