The Cape Robin-Chat is a small, charming bird with orange, grey and brown plumage that is often seen rummaging around in South African gardens.
This useful creature feasts on small insects such as caterpillars, ants and beetles which are often a problem for gardeners. Because of its diet of creepy-crawlies it is most often seen in the undergrowth of fairly overgrown gardens with plenty of foliage.
Keep an eye out for this small, sweet bird (16 – 17 cm in length) with its pleasant song which (according to BirdLife South Africa) is " a series of sweet whistling notes which may be maintained for long periods at dawn and dusk." While it won''t generally eat seed from a bird table, it will sometimes snack on cheese and fruit and water put out to welcome it.
As the Cape Robin-Chat is the SA Bird of the Year 2009, there are many related resources available for download from BirdLife Sout Africa for schools who are interested in celebrating and observing Bird Week 09.
For more information on Bird Week 2009, and on birding in South Africa in general, head on over to BirdLife South Africa''s website which is a treasure trove of information for bird-lovers throughout our beautiful country.
(image source: Wkimedia Commons)
1 Response to And the South African Bird of 2009 is
We have a Cape Robin-Chat pair who made a nest in our of our plant pots on our verandah and 2 chicks have now hatched.
By Marie-Louise (21 months ago)