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gardening for birds - colour Botswana’s rainbow birds

Our theme this month is colour, and that our birds have in
profusion. ROYGBIV or red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo

and violet, every colour has its spectacular representative.

The Lilac Breasted Roller is as colourful as they come, with 8 colours, its a real
rainbow bird. Our red bird has to be the Crimson-breasted Shrike and then we
have the Orange-breasted Bush Shrike, both breath-takingly beautiful. Yellow
is represented by both the Black-headed Oriole and Masked Weaver. Green is a
small problem; the Green Wood-Hoopoe is not so green and Meyer’s Parrot is
not so common, so let’s vote for the Little Bee-Eater or Klaas’s Cuckoo. Blue has
to be our Woodland Kingfisher and the Indigobird is a natural choice. Last, but
definitely not least is the Violet-eared Waxbill.

Now you need to attract these species to your garden. Always have bird seed and
drinking water available liberally. Your garden absolutely must have insects to
attract the insect-eaters. For these you need indigenous flowers, trees and grasses,
with worms in your lawn. Then sit back and enjoy the sights and sounds as
Nature’s beauty pageant and chorus take over.

by Harold Hester & Photographs by Ian White
( For more information - www.birdlifebotswana.org.bw )
Orange-breasted
Bushshrike

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