Birding in Kenya with Grandma

The Pink-backed Pelican (Pelecanus rufescens) is a member of the pelican family of birds. It is a resident breeder in Africa, southern Arabia and apparently extinct in Madagascar in swamps and shallow lakes.

The nest is a large heap of sticks, into which 2-3 large white eggs are laid. The chicks feed by plunging their heads deep into the adult's pouch and taking the partially digested regurgitated fish.

This is a small pelican, but the wingspan is still around 2.4 m (7.9 ft) with an average weight of 5.5 kg (12 lbs). It is much smaller and duller than the Great White Pelican. The plumage is grey and white, with a pink back. The top of the bill is yellow and the pouch is usually greyish. Breeding adults have long feather plumes on the head.

Food is usually fish and amphibians and is usually obtained by fishing in groups.

The African Spoonbill (Platalea alba) is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. This species is a widespread resident across Africa and Madagascar.

The African Spoonbill occurs in marshy wetlands with some open shallow water, nesting in colonies in trees or reedbeds. It does not usually share colonies with storks or herons. Usually two to four eggs are laid.

The African Spoonbill is almost unmistakable through most of its range. The breeding bird is all white except for its red legs and face and long grey spatulate bill. It has no crest, unlike the Common Spoonbill. Immature birds lack the red face and have a yellow bill. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched.

This spoonbill feeds on various fish, molluscs and amphibians.

The African Spoonbill is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Category: File - :Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus)- Male W IMG_0709.jpg|thumb|right|Ploceus philippinus- Baya Weaver- Male in Hyderabad, India.

Category: Image - :Weaver_bird_nest.jpg|thumb|right|Weaver birds and nests in western India.

Category: Image - :Weaver bird.jpg|thumb|right|Rufous-tailed weaver. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.

Category: Image - :Redheadedmalimbe.jpg|thumb|right|Red-headed Malimbe, Uganda.

Category: Image - :Speke's-weaver.jpg|thumb|right|Male Speke's Weaver in the Serengeti, Tanzania

Category: Image - :weavernests2.jpg|thumb|right|Village Weaver colony in The Gambia. The nests are the spherical suspended objects

The Ploceidae, or Weavers, are small passerine birds related to the finches.

These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills, most of which breed in sub-Saharan Africa, with fewer species in tropical Asia and also in Australia. The weaver group is divided into the buffalo, sparrow, typical, and widow weavers. The males of many species are brightly coloured, usually in red or yellow and black, some species show variation in colour only in the breeding season.

Weaver birds, also known as weaver finches, get their name because of their elaborately woven nests (the most elaborate of any birds'), though some are notable for their selective parasitic nesting habits. The nests vary in size, shape, material used, and construction techniques from species to species. Materials used for building nests include fine leaf-fibers, grass, and twigs. Many species weave very fine nests using thin strands of leaf fiber, though some, like the buffalo-weavers, form massive untidy stick nests in their colonies, which may have spherical woven nests within. The sparrow weavers of Africa build apartment-house nests, in which 100 to 300 pairs have separate flask-shaped chambers entered by tubes at the bottom. Most species weave nests that have narrow entrances, facing downward.

The weavers are gregarious birds which often breed colonially. The birds build their nests together for protection, often several to a branch. Usually the male birds weave the nests and use them as a form of display to lure prospective females. The weaver bird colonies may be found close to water bodies. They sometimes cause crop damage, notably the Red-billed Quelea, reputed to be the world's most numerous bird.

The Black Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina) is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It was once called also Kaffir Crane.

It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although in nests in somewhat wetter habitats. There are two subspecies: B. p. pavonina in the west and the more numerous B. p. ceciliae in east Africa.

This species and the closely related Grey Crowned Crane, B. regulorum, which prefers wetter habitats for foraging, are the only cranes that can nest in trees. This habit, amongst other things, is a reason why the relatively small Balearica cranes are believed to closely resemble the ancestral members of the Gruidae. It is about 1 m (3.3 ft) long, has a 1.87 m (6.2 ft) wingspan and weighs about 3.6 kg (8 lbs).

Like all cranes, the Black Crowned Crane eats grass, insects, reptiles, and small mammals. It is endangered, especially in the west, by habitat loss and degradation.