The curved bill...

There are all kinds of curved bills in Kruger from Sunbirds to Hornbills to Hoopoes. The bill is shaped to facilitate the obtainment of food. They don't have hummingbirds in South Africa but they have all of these.

Grey Go-away Bird - We experienced a TON of these birds -- a small curved beak, but curved non-the-less. As part of their courtship, males feed females mouth to mouth, as if kissing. WOW! When we were looking for the Pel's Fishing Owls we experienced a huge flock 100+ hanging out in the area -- spectacular! But made it a little hard to look for the Owl because there was so much movement.

Red-faced Mousebird -- tiny curved pink bill with a black tip - they fly FAST and FAR. They also have long tails so are interesting to see fly with whirring wings -- then long glides.

African Gray Hornbill - Now that is a curved bill. Hornbills feed on fruit, insects & small mammals.

Southern Red-billed Hornbill - When nesting, the females seal themselves in a cavity by building a wall with mud and feces - yuck!

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill - unlike many birds where each eye looks to one side, Hornbills eyes are positioned for binocular vision. The Yellow-billed is larger than the Red-billed and are often found together. Note the trademark eyelash feathers.

Eurasian Hoopoe - has a crazy crest when excited or nervous or when coming in for a landing - a full-on Mohawk. It is usually folded but you can see some of it in the photos below.

Green Woodhoopoe - Although this bird has a curved bill & is quite stunning, it stinks! It secretes a liquid from the preen glad when flying and smells kind of like a skunk.

Common Scimitarbill - We were treated to several sightings of this acrobatic bird -- but only grabbed photos on the last day. Very curved bill and grateful I got good lighting.

Burchell's Coucal - A strong short curved bill facilitate a menu of snails, insects, reptiles, eggs and (gasp) birds. The barred rump is what distinguishes this Coucal from the Senegal species.

White-bellied Sunbird - The curved bill facilitates eating nectar but they also eat small soft insects.

Marico Sunbird - Spider eaters, probably one of the darkest Sunbirds.

There are also Waterbirds that have curved bills, I will cover that in the Waterbirds section. Until then -- be curvy & proud!