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Picathartes – Africa’s strangest birds

10,000 Birds

The family Picathartidae consists of two very unusual birds; White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes , endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa; and Gray-necked or Red-headed , restricted to Lower Guinea forests of Central Africa. However this classification is no longer widely accepted, and in my opinion quite correctly so.

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Birding the Kruger Park (4): Letaba area

10,000 Birds

Reportedly, the Water Thick-knee sometimes locates its nest close to the nest of Nile crocodiles as this offers some protection. While hoopoes are in their own family, DNA studies suggest that the hoopoe diverged from hornbills, and the wood-hoopoes and scimitarbills from the hoopoe.

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