From Opus

Photo by rudydbn
Scottborough, South Africa

Alternative name: Natal Robin

Cossypha natalensis

[edit] Identification

Length 16-18 cm, mass 24-36 g. Crown brown to rufous, face and under parts orange, upper parts slate-blue. Tail orange with black centre.

[edit] Distribution

Africa: Ethiopia and Somalia through Kenya, Uganda and DRC to Angola in the west and through eastern Africa to eastern South Africa. Isolated populations in Nigeria and Central African Republic.

[edit] Taxonomy

Cossypha natalensis has three subspecies:^[1]

• C. n. larischi

• Nigeria to northern Angola

• C. n. intensa

• Southern Somalia and Sudan to Angola, north-eastern South Africa and Mozambique

• C. n. natalensis

• Coastal south-eastern South Africa

[edit] Habitat

Subtropical and tropical forest and dense woodland.

[edit] Behaviour

Usually found singly or in pairs. Forages mainly on the ground for invertebrates and friuts.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Hockey, PAR, WRJ Dean, and PG Ryan, eds. 2005. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 7th ed. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 978-0620340533
3. Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154

• List of references

[edit] External Links