Difference between revisions of "Forest Canary" - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo by Alan Manson
Queen Elizabeth Park, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, August 2006

Crithagra scotops

Serinus scotops

Identification

L. 12-13 cm
Wt. 15 g

Olive green above with brown streaks
Black mask from lores to chin
Yellow eyebrow
Yellow below with green wash
Olive streaks on breast and flanks

Male

Yellow throat patch

Female

Female
Photo by Alan Manson
Queen Elizabeth Park, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, August 2006

Lacks throat patch
Duller
Greyer on the face
More heavily streaked below
Yellow eyebrow not as broad

Distribution

Eastern and southern South Africa, eastern Lesotho and western eSwatini.

Taxonomy

Placed in genus Serinus by Clements.

Subspecies

Three subspecies based on plumage coloration^[1]:

C. s. scotops:

from low-altitude (eastern) KwaZulu-Natal and coastal Eastern Cape

C. s. kirbyi: Breast darker and more strongly streaked than nominate

Afromontane forests of Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga

C. s. umbrosa: Upper parts darker green than nominate, underparts duller and eyebrow shorter

Coastal forests of southern Western Cape and Afromontane forests of Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal (>1000 m)

Habitat

Forest, coastal thicket, tall shrubland and Protea woodland, orchards, wooded gardens, and plantations.

Behaviour

Diet

Inconspicuous, foraging in small groups or pairs in the mid to upper canopy, forest margin vegetation or on ground. Food includes small seeds, fruit, flowers and leaves.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
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

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Forest Canary. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Forest_Canary

External Links

Search for photos of Forest Canary in the gallery

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 *Yellow eyebrow not as broad
 ==Distribution==
-Eastern and southern [[South Africa]], eastern [[Lesotho]] and western [[Swaziland]].
+Eastern and southern [[South Africa]], eastern [[Lesotho]] and western [[eSwatini]].
 ==Taxonomy==