From Opus
- Cossypha caffra
[edit] Identification
Length 16-17 cm
- Grey above
- Black sides of face and behind eye
- White supercilium
- Orange chin, throat, central breast, rump, under-tail coverts and outer tail feathers
- Grey-brown central tail feathers
- Pale grey belly
- Black, down curved bill
- Brown iris
- Pink-grey legs and feet
Sexes similar
Juvenile
- Buff-marked dark brown upperparts
- Buff underparts
- Grey-brown breast
[edit] Distribution
Africa
Western Africa: found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho and Swaziland
Kenya, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland.
[edit] Taxonomy
There are 4-7 subspecies depending on the authority:
-
- Eastern Zaire (Kivu highlands) and south-western [[Uganda]
- Natal-Transvaal border to eastern Transvaal
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- Southern Namibia to Orange Free State and western Transvaal
-
However, of those, subspecies drakensbergi and vespera along with ardens are generally considered invalid[2].
[edit] Habitat
Forest edges, bushveld, scrub and fynbos, gardens and parks.
[edit] Behaviour
[edit] Breeding
It builds a cup-shaped nest from coarse vegetation, lined with animal hair and rootlets.
The diet includes insects, spiders, invertebrates, small frogs, lizards and some fruit.
[edit] References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Avibase
- Wikipedia
[edit] External Links