Alternative name: Grey Penduline Tit
- Anthoscopus caroli
Includes Buff-bellied Penduline-Tit
Identification
Length 8-9 cm, mass 6.0-6.9 g.
Adult: Face buffy, upper parts grey. Wings and tail dark grey-brown, feathers with pale edges. Throat and breast greyish white, belly and flanks cinnamon buff. Eyes dark brown to black; legs and feet grey.
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa: North-western South Africa, Swaziland, eastern and northern Botswana, northern Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, Tanzania, southern Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and isolated populations in southern Kenya and northern Republic of the Congo.
Taxonomy
There are nine subspecies based on shades of plumage colouration.
Sylviella is sometimes split as Buff-bellied Penduline-Tit.
Habitat
Broad-leaved woodland (including those dominated by Combretum, Terminalia, Burkea and Brachystegia); less common in Acacia woodland.
Behaviour
In pairs or family groups of up to seven individuals. Roosts in old nests, including those of Ploceus Weavers. Forages actively for insects in tree canopies, probing flower clusters, leaf buds, twigs and fruit. Also feeds on Aloe nectar.
Breeding: Monogamous; nesting is solitary. The nest is a oval bag made from plant down and spider web; it has a collapsible entrance spout near the top. Two to eight eggs are laid August to February (in southern Africa).
References
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ & Ryan PG (eds) 2005. Robert's Birds of Southern Africa, 7th edition. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa. ISBN 0620340533
