Birds of the savannah

It’s not just big animals on the grasslands of the Masai Mara, all sorts of muliti-coloured birds make their home here too. 

 

The most striking (and one of the biggest) is the crowned crane, with long skinny legs, blue and white body and long neck, ‘crowned’ with a feathery headdress.

Lilac-breasted rollers are much smaller but just as vividly marked, with a bright blue body and violet breast. 

Another huge bird on the plains is the marabou stork, while the tiny red-billed ox-picker, as the name suggests, could be seen perched on the back of buffalo, feasting on ticks!

See previous posts on the ostrich and vulture.