Cape Robin-Chat
Encyclopedia
The Cape Robin-Chat, Cossypha caffra, is a small passerine
bird
of the Old World flycatcher
family
Muscicapidae.
It is a mainly resident breeder in southern and eastern Africa
from Kenya
south to Namibia
, Zambia
, Zimbabwe
, South Africa
, Lesotho
, and Swaziland
. It is a common species at forest edges and in scrub, fynbos
, karoo
, plantations, gardens and parks.
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The Cape Robin-Chat is 16–17 cm long. 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 th breast.
The Cape Robin-Chat has a harsh, low trisyllabic alarm note "WA-dur-dra". The Afrikaans
name name for this species, “JAN Frederik” gives the rhythm of this call, if the syllables of the latter part are run together. The song consists of variable short passages of musical notes, always starts with low slurred whistle cherooo-weet-weet-weeeet.
and August to January elsewhere, but may nest at any time of the year.
It prefers the cover of dense vegetation, foraging at and close to ground level, eating invertebrate
s, small frogs, lizards and fruit.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
of the Old World flycatcher
Old World flycatcher
The Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae is a large family of small passerine birds mostly restricted to the Old World. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing.-Characteristics:...
family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
Muscicapidae.
It is a mainly resident breeder in southern and eastern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
from Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
south to Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
, Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
, and Swaziland
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
. It is a common species at forest edges and in scrub, fynbos
Fynbos
Fynbos is the natural shrubland or heathland vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate...
, karoo
Karoo
The Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa. It has two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south. The 'High' Karoo is one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger South African Platform division.-Great Karoo:The Great Karoo has an area of...
, plantations, gardens and parks.
Description
Supercilium
The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head. Also known as an "eyebrow", it is distinct from the eyestripe, which is a line which runs...
. 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 th breast.
The Cape Robin-Chat has a harsh, low trisyllabic alarm note "WA-dur-dra". The Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
name name for this species, “JAN Frederik” gives the rhythm of this call, if the syllables of the latter part are run together. The song consists of variable short passages of musical notes, always starts with low slurred whistle cherooo-weet-weet-weeeet.
Behaviour
The Cape Robin-Chat builds a cup-shaped nest of coarse vegetation, lined with animal hair, rootlets and other fine material. It normally nests from June to November in the South-western CapeCape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...
and August to January elsewhere, but may nest at any time of the year.
It prefers the cover of dense vegetation, foraging at and close to ground level, eating invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s, small frogs, lizards and fruit.