We spotted plenty of these - usually in pairs - more or less everywhere we went in Kenya.
The grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) is the national bird of Uganda and features on their flag and coat of arms (and on their money which is oddly not on Wikipedia...).
Around a meter tall though weigh almost nothing - their feathers make them look significantly larger than their typical 3.5kg.
Only saw adults - paired up and wandering around feeding together.
When the sun catches their crown just right it almost looks like a halo.
Beautiful birds.
These huge birds can speed across the Savannah at speeds of up to 70km/h! Bear in mind - at his absolute fastest - Usain Bolt only clocked in 44.72 km/h... And they're HUGE.
The largest living bird - typically over 100kg in weight and lay the largest eggs in the world - a single one being large enough to feed a dozen people. Their kicks and pecks can lethally injure lions so they tend to steer clear.
Also - flightless. In good company there.
Sometimes in pairs - sometimes a single male with several females - they are very visible in the grass or brush if they are standing up - lying down they are barely visible as can be seen in the last few photos.
We caught our first glimpses of Ostriches - the common kind - North African Ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus) and The Masai Ostrich (Struthio camelus massaicus) at Amboseli:
With an elephant herd in the background.
Look at the size of those thighs!
We were honoured to witness some defecation as well:
Later on we had a closer encounter with a male (pink legs, black body) and his little harem (3 females - one a little tough to spot lying down in the grass). We were told the males lay on the eggs at night and the females during the day - their colouring helping with camouflage based on lighting.
Saw plenty of these guys flitting about on our recent travels through Kenya.
The Hildebrand's starling (Lamoritirnis hildebrandti) is far from endangered as it stands - as was evidenced by their near constant presence.
Ranging from Ethiopia and Somalia to Kenya and Tanzania at relatively high altitude they look almost like groups of iridescent gems appearing and disappearing around you. Very tough to catch on camera in flight as the photos below will attest - managed to lure one to a chair nearby (apologies to the conservationists).
They are thought to feed primarily on insects and fruit though are also known to consume seeds (and anecdotally - potatoes) in pairs or small flocks.
