Cape Canary
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| Serinus canicollis (Swainson, 1838) |
The Cape Canary, (Serinus canicollis) is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is a resident breeder in eastern and southern Africa, and has been introduced to Mauritius and Reunion.
Its habitat is fynbos, grassland and gardens, preferably in highland areas. It builds a compact cup nest in a scrub.
The Cape Canary is 11-13 cm in length. The adult male has a green back with black edging to the wing feathers wings and tail. The underparts, rump and tail sides are yellow, and lower belly is white. The rear head and neck are grey, and the face is cinnamon. The female is similar, but with a less grey on the head. The juvenile has greenish-yellow underparts with heavy brown streaking. This species is easily distinguished from the Yellow-fronted Canary by its lack of black face markings.
There are five subspecies; the East African form S. c flavivertex is very distinctive, much brighter, and with a yellow head, lacking the grey colour. It is sometimes given specific status as the Yellow-crowned Canary, S. flavivertex.
Angolan S. c huillensis is also a bright, yellow-headed subspecies.
The Cape Canary is a common and gregarious seedeater. Its call is tsit-it-it, and the song is warbled Goldfinch-like trills and whistles given in display flight or from a high perch.
[edit] References
- Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa (Struik 2002) ISBN 1-86872-721-1
- Clement, Harris and Davis, Finches and Sparrows by ISBN 0-7136-8017-2
