Top 10 Most Common Bird in Turkana

The white-headed buffalo weaver is 170 to 190 mm (6.7–7.5 in) in length and 57 to 85 g (2.0–3.0 oz) in weight. In addition to its white head and underparts, the white-headed buffalo weaver has a vividly orange-red rump and undertail coverts. Its thighs are dark brown. Narrow white bands can be found on the wings. Both sexes are similar in plumage and hard to differentiate. The bill is conical and black. D. d. dinemelli has a brown tail, whereas D. d. boehmi has a black tail.

The Namaqua dove is a tiny sparrow-sized pigeon, typically 22 cm in length with a 28–33 cm wingspan, and weighing 40g. It has a very long black tapered tail, and the size and shape have led to comparison with the budgerigar. The plumage is mostly grey apart from a white belly, and chestnut primary feathers which are visible in flight. The adult male has a yellow and red beak and a black face, throat and breast. The adult female lacks the black and has a red-based grey bill. Young birds are dark blotched on the wings and shoulders, and otherwise resemble the females. The song is a quiet, short, double hoo, higher on the longer second note kuh-whooo, mournful and frequently repeated.

The Abyssinian roller is a large bird, nearly the size of a jackdaw at 28–30 cm (11–12 in). It has a warm brown back, with the rest of the plumage mainly blue. Adults have long (12 cm (4.7 in)) tail streamers. Sexes are similar, but the juvenile is a drabber version of the adult. Abyssinian roller is striking in its strong direct flight, with the brilliant blues of the wings contrasting with the brown back and the long tail streamers trailing behind. The call of the Abyssinian roller is a harsh crow-like gak sound, or a screeched aaaargh.

The plumage of the adult is mainly pale rufous, both above and below. The back, upperwing and flanks are barred with black. The breast has dark streaks and the head is streaked but has no malar stripe unlike the common and lesser kestrels. The rump and tail are grey with black bars; the tail has a white tip. In flight, the whitish underwing contrasts with the darker body. The iris of the eye is whitish, distinguishing the bird from any similar species. The bill is mainly blue-grey and the feet and cere are yellow. Juvenile birds have rufous instead of grey on the tail, streaked flanks and a dark eye. The bird is 29–37 cm (11–15 in) long with a wingspan of 68–84 cm (27–33 in) The southern subspecies F. r. rupicoloides weighs about 181–334gr (.400–.736 lb). The form F. r. arthuri is smaller, weighing about 165–252gr (.364–.556 lb). The northern subspecies F. r. fieldi is also small and is paler than the others. The species is usually silent but has a shrill, repeated call.

Their body feathers are darkest on the upper side, where they are coloured in dull tones of grey and brown, with shades of lavender on the nape. It is paler below, where a tint of pinkish lavender is usually present. The lower belly and crissum (the undertail coverts surrounding the cloaca) is white. As with related species, they have white fringes and conspicuous white tips to the otherwise slate grey tail feathers. The tail pattern is particularly noticeable during the display flight. Individual plumage variation is high, with some light and others almost sooty. Males and females look alike, although the males are slightly bigger. They measure 25–26.5 cm (9.8–10.4 in) in length and weigh 92–188 g (3.2–6.6 oz). The eyes are almost black, the bill is black and the feet are dark purple. An immature is duller and lacks the semi-collar of an adult. It also has buff edges to all the upper part and wing covert feathers, while the plumage below is broadly edged greyish-white.

The blue-naped mousebird is a fairly small to medium-sized bird, measuring 13-14 inches in length. Adults have an ash brown, grayish body, crested head with a turquoise nape, and a black-and-red bill, whereas juveniles lack the blue on nape, and have pink facial skin and greenish bills. Characteristic of mousebirds, the blue-naped mousebird has widely spaced and large feet for its body size, which are pamprodactylous; they are able to rotate all four toes to face forward at will. Their toes are strong and dextrous, allowing the birds to climb and scurry along branches, to hang by a toenail, or to use one foot to hold food.

The birds appear as small to medium-sized, brownish sandgrouses with an elongated and pointed tail when in flight. When grounded, they appear as very short-legged birds, with a small head. They will stretch out their long necks when wary. There are six recognised subspecies of chestnut-bellied sandgrouse. The overall plumage colouration varies between the six subspecies. The subspecies that inhabits the Nile Valley (P. e. floweri) have darker and greyer colouration on their heads, mantle and breasts and have less yellowish colouration on the upper wing-coverts and scapulars than the nominate subspecies, Pterocles exustus exustus (Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania and Sudan). P. e. ellioti (southeastern Sudan, to Somalia), P. e. erlangeri (southwestern Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman) and P. e. hindustan (Iran, Pakistan and India) are all paler and greyer than the nominate subspecies. P. e. olivascens (South Sudan to Northern Tanzania) has distinct greyer olive colouration on their upperparts and wings, with females having more heavily barred and streaked underparts than the nominate subspecies. There are six recognised subspecies of chestnut-bellied sandgrouse. The overall plumage colouration varies between the six subspecies. The subspecies, Pterocles exustus floweri that inhabits the Nile Valley have darker and greyer colouration on their heads, mantle and breasts and have less yellowish colouration on the upper wing-coverts and scapulars than the nominate subspecies, P. e. exustus (Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania and Sudan). P. e. ellioti (southeastern Sudan, to Somalia), P. e. erlangeri (southwestern Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman) and Pterocles exustus hindustan (Iran, Pakistan and India) are all paler and greyer than the nominate subspecies. P. e. olivascens (South Sudan to Northern Tanzania) has distinct greyer olive colouration on their upperparts and wings, with females having more heavily barred and streaked underparts than the nominate subspecies. The chestnut-bellied sandgrouse is sexually dimorphic in colouration. The subspecies that is found in abundance in the Thar and Sindh Deserts is easily distinguishable by plumage colouration. The male's upper parts, from the crown to upper tail are a covert isabelline-grey/brown colour. The lores, cheeks, chin, and throat are a dull yellow-ochre and often tinged with orange-buff that extends around the neck like a collar and shading off towards the scapular and interscapular feathers, shading into ocherous-buff at the tips and edged with brown. The wing feathers are a buff or ocherous-buff shading into olive towards the inner bottom wing. The bird's upper breast is a vinous-buff and separated by a narrow band of black boarded with white. The lower breast has a dull yellow-buff that changes gradually into a chocolate colour, with the centre of the abdomen is black. The under tail and tarsus in a creamy-buff. The centre tail is the same isabelline-grey/brown as the upper tail feathers, becoming black towards the prolonged narrow portions. The female's upper plumage is a dull-buff streaked with dark brown marks at the back of the neck, increasing to blotches, with other parts becoming broad bars. The wing feathers are the same as the back, but the feathers are tipped broadly with buff, with some coverts edged with brown. The neck, breast and sides of the head are vinous in colour, with black spots. The lower breast is a dull pale ochre-buff, with the abdomen to the vent closely barred with dark brown. And the under-tail covert feathers are creamy buff. The subspecies P. e. floweri, which inhabits the Nile Valley, are easily distinguishable between the sexes. The males tend to have an orange tone around their necks and faces, with sharp demarcated black lines across the pale upper breast. The male's face and throat are a yellowish colour, faintly contrasted with a greyish crown, neck and breast. The breast and neck of the females are heavily mottled with brown and white, lacking the black lines across the breast that the males possess.