Three is a get-together

A week sure goes by fast when trying to get a good picture of birds.  Of course hummingbirds are hyper and don't exactly want to stay still, so I'll come back to them at another time.  These birds reminded me of the nice lunch I had today with travel friends Joan and Christine at Green's in SF.  Not because the three of us are looking plumb after eating or that we ate bird, but because the three of us had a great chat as these guinea fowl are doing since apparently they are quite noisy.
p.s. This was taken on our adventures in Tunisia in Dec. 2010

Helmeted Guinea Fowl

Range:

Most of Africa, except desert and heavy forest regions. A small population of Helmeted Guinea fowl can be found in Morocco.

Habitat:

Scrubland, savanna

Characteristics:

These birds have a wattle on each side of their beak and a horny "helmet" on top of their brightly colored head. They have a bead-like design on their feathers which consists of tiny white dots on a dark background.

 

Behavior:

These noisy birds usually live in large groups. In they wild there have been as many as 2,000 guinea fowl roosting together in a tree. They are capable of flight, but prefer to spend most of their time on the ground. In some places, like forests, they will roost in trees at night.

Reproduction:

The large flocks break up into smaller groups during breeding season. Females incubate 12-15 eggs for 24-30 days.

Interesting Facts:

Usually seen in large flocks, but walk through the bush in single file and imitate whatever the leader does. Helmeted guinea fowl are the original birds from which domestic guinea fowl were bred.