The Cape Robin-Chat - Cossypha caffra - is a resident breeder in southern and eastern Africa. It is a common species at forest edges and in
scrub, fynbos, Karoo, plantations, gardens and
parks.
Description
The adult’s
upper-parts are grey, and the face sides in front of and behind the eye are
blackish, separated from the crown by a white supercilium. The chin, throat,
central breast, rump, under-tail coverts and outer tail feathers are orange,
and the central tail feathers are greyish-brown. The belly is pale grey. The
black bill is short and straight, with a slightly down-curved upper mandible.
The legs and feet are pinkish grey, and the eye is brown. The sexes are
similar, but the juvenile is dark brown above and buff below, heavily marked
with buff on the upperparts and grey-brown on the breast.
Call
Its song is a
series of melodious phrases, usually starting with ‘cheroo-weet-weet-weeeet’
and also often mimics other birds.
Food
It mainly eats
insects and other invertebrates, supplemented with fruit and seeds plucked from
bushes, trees or the ground. It does a lot of its foraging in leaf litter,
flicking through plant debris in search of food and occasionally aerially
hawking an insect.
Breeding
The Cape
Robin-Chat builds a cup-shaped nest of coarse vegetation, lined with animal
hair, rootlets and other fine material. The egg-laying season is from about
June-January, peaking around October - November. The nest is usually built
solely by the female in about 1 to 14 days. The female lays 2 to 3 pale blue
eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 14 to 19 days. They
are fed by both parents, eventually leaving the nest at about 14 to 18 days,
remaining dependent on their parents for about 5 to 7 weeks more.
Conservation Status – Least Concern
Not threatened,
in fact it has adapted well to the introduction of man-made habitats.
Bird watching
These beautiful, confiding
birds can be seen on the following Aves
Birding Tours/Safaris/Adventures: -
Aves Arid Birding
Tour/Safari/Adventure.
Aves Eastern Cape Birding
Tour / Safari / Adventure.
Aves Highlands / Tembe Birding Tour / Safari /
Adventure.
Aves KZN Birding
Tour / Safari / Adventure.
Aves North East
Birding Tour / Safari / Adventure.
Aves North West Birding Tour
/ Safari / Adventure.
Aves Western Cape Birding
Tour / Safari / Adventure.
Aves West Coast
Birding Tour / Safari / Adventure.