Tanzania - 2020 - Part 4 - Featuring Southern Red Bishops

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Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix nigrifrons) are Sparrow-sized birds that measure between 3.9 - 5.9 inches in length (including the tail). They have a thick, conical bill. The plumage of breeding males is a combination of bright red/orange and black. The head is red, except for the black forehead, face and throat.

Clicking on images with a horizonal orientation will display a slightly larger version.

The upper plumage is red, except for the brown wings and tail.

All the photos shown in this blog post were taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M1X camera, a 300mm f/4 IS PRO lens with 2x teleconverter.

Males are generally larger than females.

The lower chest and abdomen are black.

Southern Red Bishops are a gregarious species found in open habitats and the edges of marshes; often seen in flocks of tens to hundreds.

Outside of the mating season, both the male and female are similar in appearance, with a streaky brown plumage and a pale chest. I don’t know if I have a photo of a female buried in the large number of unprocessed files. But based on the photos I see of the female on the web, it is hard to believe that the bland brownish plumage of the female is the same species as the colorful bird seen in the images show above. This reminds me of the differences in the plumage of the male and female Red-winged Blackbird.

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.