They have feathers, are quite colorful, and fly, which is some of the similarities they share commonly.
But unlike a lion, a cheetah, or a leopard whereby it’s easy to distinguish between the three cat families, birds of the same family, not species will look so similar sometimes it’s hard just differentiating between them.
So here is a simple, yet fun and interesting quiz to help test your knowledge about birds found specifically in Africa and their names.
Well, how do you think you did? Did you get all the African birds’ names correct? Let’s find out, shall we?
A. The largest bird in Africa is the Ostrich.
The ostrich holds the title of not only being the largest bird in Africa but in the world.
Let’s go over some stats: males are usually larger and heavier than females standing between 2 to 2.7 m (6 ft 9 to 9 ft) in height and weighing between 100 to 160 kg ( 220 to 350 lbs).
The females come in at a height of between 1.7 to 1.9 m ( 5 ft 8 in to 6 ft 2 in) and weigh between 90 to 110 kg ( 198 to 242 lbs).
The goliath heron just as its name suggests is also a large bird, but it doesn’t quite hold a candle to the mighty ostrich as it has a height of between 1.2 to 1.5 m ( 3 ft 11 in to 5 ft).
But it has an impressive wingspan of between 1.8 to 2.3 m ( 6 ft to 7 ft 7 in), though it is woefully light for its size weighing an average of 4.5 kg ( 9.7 lbs).
B. The smallest bird in Africa is the Cape Penduline tit.
The Cape Penduline Tit is the smallest bird in Africa, and when compared to the ostrich it seems quite insignificant.
The bird stands at 8 cm ( 3 in ) tall, and shares this accolade with its cousins the Tit Hylia, and the mouse-colored Penduline Tit. The Cape Penduline Tit is so small that it will often use items like spider silk webs to line the insides of its nests.
The overall title of the smallest bird in the world is held by the bee hummingbird. This bird stands at just 5 7 cm (2.25 in), and weighs less than 2 grams.
They can only be found in Cuba, and are so small, they are sometimes mistaken for bees.
C. The smallest bird of prey in Africa is the pygmy falcon.
The pygmy falcon is the smallest raptor on the African continent.
This bird has a length of about 20 cm ( 8 in) from head to tail, with a wingspan of 37 cm ( 14 in), and weighs between 42 to 85 g ( 2 to 4 oz).
To put their size into context, they are as tall as a sharpened pencil but are quite mighty and fearless.
The title of the smallest bird of prey in the world is the black thighed falconet with a body length of just 14 cm ( 5.5 in), and is comparable to a normal sparrow.
D. The fastest bird in Africa is the Peregrine falcon.
The Peregrine falcon is not only the fastest bird in Africa but in the world, and has been recorded reaching a top speed of about 389 kmh (242 mph).
These birds will achieve these incredible speeds in a stoop; this is the fast descent or dive by bird raptors to catch prey.
The peregrine falcon has special physical adaptations that allow it not only to reach these incredible speeds but also to maintain normal body functions and withstand physical forces.
When they are going about their general life, they will fly at speeds of between 60 to 100 km ( 37 to 62 mph).
E. The bird with the fastest level of flight in Africa is the common swift.
The peregrine falcon is the “Usain Bolt” of the bird world, pulling off incredible bursts of speed for a short while.
Well, the common swift is the “Eliud Kipchoge – world recorder holder for the marathon” of the bird world, maintaining an impressive top speed of 111 km (69 mph) over long distances.
The common swift is very much adapted to life on the wing and is known to go long periods of time without landing.
The only time swifts will be on the ground for some time is during the nesting period since breeding and mating are done in the air.
F. The ostrich is the fastest bird on land.
The ostrich is a fascinating bird and has a lot of records to its name, so we meet again 😉
In Africa and the world, it is the fastest-running bird. They can’t fly but will outrun many animals on either four or two legs.
The ostrich has been recorded hitting a top speed of 69 kmh (43 mph), and will maintain a continuous speed of between 48 and 59 kmh (30 and 37 mph).
Some adaptations that help them reach these incredible speeds are their elastic, and muscular legs, which enable them to clear 2 m (6ft) with each stride.
Then they have a perfect center of gravity, meaning they don’t worry too much about balance as they run.
And the third is their wings, which aren’t meant for flight but are used like rudders to help change direction and stabilize themselves as it runs.
G. Ruppell’s Griffon vulture is the highest-flying bird in Africa.
The Ruppells Griffon vulture is the highest flying bird, not only in Africa but in the world, with a documented flying height of 11.2 km ( 37,000 ft).
The unfortunate story about this discovery was that a Griffon vulture was sucked into one of the engines of a passenger airliner over the city of Abidjan in Ivory Coast at 37,000 ft, thus the record.
H. The heaviest flying bird in Africa is the Kori Bustard.
The male Kori Bustard to be more specific is the heaviest bird capable of flight in Africa.
When it comes to flight, the weight really plays a big role in how well a bird can take off and how long it stays in flight.
The male kori bustard though capable of flight prefers to spend a lot of his time on the ground and will fly when necessary.
The males weigh between 7 and 18 kg ( 15.4 to 39.6 lbs) with an impressive wingspan of between 2.3 to 2.7 m ( 7 ft 6 into 8 ft 8 in).
The females are significantly smaller weighing between 3 and 7 kg (6.6 and 15.4 lbs) with a wingspan of 80 cm ( 2 ft 7 in).
I. The smartest bird in Africa is the Grey Parrot.
The Grey Parrot is considered by many to be the smartest bird in the world. Their mental capacity is close to that of a five-year-old which is impressive.
Just like other parrot species, the African Grey can mimic whatever they hear. What sets them apart is that they can understand what it is they are hearing, they can count, laugh, tell jokes, and speak more than one language.
They can also be taught how to express their feelings, construct complex sentences and recognize colour, shapes and different materials.
J. The only penguin found in Africa is the Jackass Penguin.
The Jackass Penguin is also known as the African penguin and is the only penguin species found in Africa.
This penguin species is only found across the Southern coastlines of Africa from Namibia to South Africa.
They get the name Jackass Penguins from the loud donkey-like braying sound they emit.
I hope that you have enjoyed this quiz on African birds’ names and that I could entertain you with it 😉
If you have any more questions about this topic or would just like to chat with me, please feel free to leave a comment down below in the comment section or join me on one of my social media channels or Facebook group for more pictures and stories of my travels.
Who am I? Well, the least you can say is that I am quite crazy about Africa, its nature, its climate, its culture, and more.
As a young woman in my twenties, I had already traveled to several African countries by traveling along in an overlander on my own and mostly camping ( or glamping ) and just fell in love with the diversity of it all.
So much, so that at the age of 26, I went back to university to study biology, which, unfortunately, I couldn’t finish because of health reasons (yes, I got sick from a tropical disease, oh cynicism). But this did not stop my dream of traveling back to Africa several times, and I still do.
My dream was back then to leave Europe and go study animal behavior, especially the elephants (sure, that’s every girl’s dream haha), but I am also very much intrigued by hyenas and other “ugly African animals“.
So, I “kind of” have a little bit of a scientific approach to my articles, when I write about African birds, for example. And most of all: the passion.
But life goes on, you move from one side of the country to the other, you get sick again and top it off with lower back problems, and before you know it, you are over 50 hahaha!
Now, I still travel to Africa, but take it a bit “easier” than the good old camping days, and stay in comfortable, yet affordable accommodations, together with my husband Wouter.
These are some of the countries I have traveled to: Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Tunisia, and a little bit of Lesotho LOL .
While clearly not being African territory, but Spanish, I also visited Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and location-wise, I consider them “African”, because of their climate and nature, sue me :-p
The last trip I took was to South Africa in the year 2023, and it sure got the fevers for Africa back! From the Barberton mountains to the Drakensberg and the Southcoast, one month wasn’t enough at all to see the whole country, so we’ll be back! At ease and with a little bit more luxury than in my younger days haha!
2 thoughts on “A Fun QUIZ On African Birds Names And Their Top 10 Records!”
This is a fantastic way to lay out learning!! What a great article and way to teach about birds in another country!! Fantastically written and so engaging!! I loved learning about these birds and I love that you took the time to make it so fun and informative! Way to go! Keep up the good work!
This is a fantastic way to lay out learning!! What a great article and way to teach about birds in another country!! Fantastically written and so engaging!! I loved learning about these birds and I love that you took the time to make it so fun and informative! Way to go! Keep up the good work!
Thank you Mamabear for all the compliments!
These are so much more fun to write as well 😉
Kind regards,
Lizzy