Cover image of Cinnamon-breasted Bunting by Tony Archer – Hartbeesfontein – North West

Buntings belong to the Family: EMBERIZIDAE. The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus Emberiza, which is the only genus in the family. The family contains 44 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills, comparatively long tails, and short legs. The feet are relatively large for scratching on the ground.

Identification

The Cinnamon-breasted Bunting is a

Sexes differ in plumage coloration.

In Adult males, the head and neck are black with bold white stripes. The mantle, back, rump and upper tail coverts are rich, pinkish cinnamon, flecked with dark brown. The tail is dark brown with pinkish cinnamon edges to the feathers. Primaries and secondaries dark brown, fringed pinkish cinnamon, becoming increasingly cinnamon on inner wing. Coverts dark brown, edged cinnamon. Chin speckled black and white, throat sooty black. Breast, belly, flanks and undertail coverts cinnamon. Upper mandible dark horn, lower mandible yellow. Eyes brown. Legs and feet pinkish brown.

Adult females resemble males, but are generally paler and less reddish above. Crown grey, heavily streaked sooty black. Nape pale pinkish cinnamon, lightly streaked sooty black. Cheeks and throat dark grey, face and head stripes off-white.

Juveniles and immatures as female, but flecked and blotched brown below.

The Cinnamon-breasted Bunting is most likely to be mistaken for the Cape Bunting has dark (not pale) bill, bright rufous wings and grey (not cinnamon) underparts; lacks black-and-white speckling on throat and white (male) or off-white (female) median crown stripe..

Status and Distribution

Uncommon to locally very common

Sub-Saharan Africa, from Nigeria east to Eritrea and south to S Africa; also in s Arabia and on Socotra Is. In s Africa, widespread in east and north, but absent from most of Namib, Kalahari and Karoo, and coastal regions of KwaZulu-Natal. In s Mozambique, present only in west.

Not threatened.

Habitat

The Cinnamon-breasted Bunting favours rocky and bare places in wooded or open habitats. It is commonly found on rocky ridges, mountainsides, granite and dolerite outcrops with scattered bushes or trees. Also almost bare rocky and stony patches in woodlands on hills and plains, and eroding stony slopes and gullies, dry watercourses, and abandoned borrow pits and quarries.

Behaviour

The Cinnamon-breasted Bunting is resident and a breeding migrant from Nov-Dec to Apr-May. There are no clear patterns to its movements. There is a partial winter migration northward from the eastern parts of its range, with some almost certainly leaving the subregion. In Zimbabwe and northeastern South Africa, numbers increase in December, but concentrations also occur outside the breeding season. The Cinnamon-breasted Bunting is locally nomadic in the dry season. It is an occasional visitor to gardens, mainly in the wet season.

The Cinnamon-breasted Bunting is found in pairs or family groups when breeding and mostly singly or in pairs at other times. Occasionally aggregates in small flocks. As with other seed-eating species, it drinks water regularly.

Forages on ground, in bare or thinly vegetated patches and among rocks, occasionally reaching up to take seeds directly from low-growing grasses. Regularly forages on burnt areas shortly after fire. The Cinnamon-breasted Bunting eats grass seeds, forb seeds, and insects, including small beetles and hawks termite alates.

The Cinnamon-breasted Bunting is a monogamous, solitary nester, but nests may be fairly close to one another.

The nest is a shallow cup of grass, fine twigs and rootlets, often on a foundation of coarser twigs. The nest is untidy on the outside, but the cup is neatly lined with rootlets and fine grass. It is built entirely by the female in about 4 days. She is accompanied by the male on collecting trips. The nest is placed in a shallow scrape on the ground at the base of a grass tuft, rock or clod. Usually on a rocky slope, earthen bank, in a crevice in a small rock face, or on open stony ground.

The Cinnamon-breasted Bunting breeds from October to June. 2-4. Oval. Pale bluish white or pale green, heavily spotted and blotched with rust, pale and dark brown, grey and slate; markings variable, usually over whole egg, sometimes concentrated at obtuse end.

Incubation period 12-14 d; by both sexes, but mostly by female.

Newly hatched young with skin flesh pink; fine grey down on dorsal feather tracts. Bill blackish, gape orange-yellow, legs white. Nestling period 14-16 d. Nestlings fed by both ads, mainly on seeds, but some insects, incl smalll caterpillars. 41 young hatched from 62 eggs in 19 nests; another 16 nests containing 48 young fledged 15 young.

Further Resources

Species text in the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Anthony Paton, Dave Rimmer, Desire Darling, Gerald Wingate, Gregg Darling, Johan Van Rooyen, John Tinkler, Jorrie Jordaan and Marna Buys is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Rock Bunting, Cinnamon-breasted Rock Bunting (Alt.English); Klipstreepkoppie (Afrikaans); umDinasibula (Zulu); Bergammer, Siebenstreifenammer (German); Bruant cannelle (French); Berggors, Zevenstrepen-gors (Dutch); Escrevedeira-das-pedras (Portuguese).

List of bird species in this format is available here.

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2024. Cinnamon-breasted Bunting Emberiza tahapisi. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/09/26/cinnamon-breasted-bunting-emberiza-tahapisi/

Bird identification, birding

Image of Violet-eared Waxbill by Tony Archer – Near Klerksdorp, North West

Waxbills belong to the Family ESTRILDIDAE. This family also includes the Firefinches, Twinspots, Mannikins, Pytilias, etc. They are small, seed-eating passerines with short conical bills. They are all similar in structure and habits, but vary widely in plumage colours and patterns. Most species are very colourful. They are usually gregarious and often colonial. Their nests are generally a ball of grass with a side entrance and are either placed in a tree or on or close to the ground. The family contains 138 species from 39 genera. They are restricted to the Old World and are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, as well as southern Asia and Australasia.

Identification

The Violet-eared Waxbill is an unmistakable bird in southern Africa and arguably one of the most beautiful. It is a very colourful seedeater with violet cheeks, a red bill, blue rump and forehead, and rich chestnut body. The sexes are similar, but females are overall paler and duller.

Adult males are overall rich chestnut brown with a paler brown back and folded wings. The cheeks, ear coverts and sides of the face are brilliant violet, and the lores, chin and throat are black. The forehead and rump are deep blue. The tail is black, relatively long and graduated. Bill colouration ranges from pale to bright red, with a purplish sheen. The eyes are reddish or brownish-orange, and the eye ring is bright orange-red. Legs and feet are dark greyish. Adult females are paler straw-brown, with duller blue and violet colouration.

Juveniles are similar to adult females but have black bills and lack bright facial colours.

Status and Distribution

The Violet-eared Waxbill is common and near-endemic to southern Africa. It is one of the more arid-tolerant African estrildids, and its distribution is strongly linked to the southern African thornbelt and deep Kalahari sands. Its range encompasses the central Namibian escarpment and northern Namibia east to the Caprivi, Botswana, much of Zimbabwe, the drier parts of southern Mozambique, Limpopo and North West Provinces, the Mpumalanga lowveld, central Free State and the northeastern Northern Cape. Beyond southern Africa, it is found in southern Angola and southern Zambia.

The Violet-eared Waxbill is not threatened. However, local populations may be significantly impacted by the cage-bird trade. Fortunately, its often nomadic movement patterns possibly prevent excessive trapping.

Habitat

The Violet-eared Waxbill prefers shrubby areas in open Kalahari and thornveld regions, but extends into open broad-leaved woodland with thickets, particularly on deep Kalahari sands. The Violet-eared Waxbill also inhabits thickets in agriculture-savanna mosaics.

Behaviour

The Violet-eared Waxbill is considered to be resident and sedentary, but populations are subject to small-scale nomadic movements, especially in dry years.

The Violet-eared Waxbill is usually found singly, in pairs, or small family groups. It often associates with the Blue Waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis) and Black-faced Waxbill (Estrilda erythronotos), especially at water sources. Although it drinks when water is available, the distribution suggests it may be independent of surface water. Drinks mainly in the mid-afternoon in summer and in the morning during winter. The Violet-eared Waxbill drinks least often in summer, as it probably gains enough water from the seeds and insects in its diet.

Spends extended periods in dense foliage where they rest and preen. Violet-eared Waxbills regularly allopreen and are often seen huddled together.

It forages mainly in the morning and late afternoon. The Violet-eared Waxbill generally forages in the shade, especially during the hotter hours of the day. Forages on the ground and on standing grass inflorescences, primarily for seeds, but also takes some insects. Digs seeds from substratum with sweeping movements of the bill. Insects are picked directly, or by breaking open termite workings on trees also gleans prey from leaves. Occasionally, hawks termite alates aerially from the ground.

The Violet-eared Waxbill eats seeds from a wide variety of grass species. Also eats seeds of forbs and small drupes or berries. In winter, grass seeds dominate the diet, with more insects and occasional berries in summer. Insects consumed include caterpillars, termites, ants, and beetles.

The Violet-eared Waxbill is monogamous, and pairs maintain lifelong bonds. Pairs nest solitarily and are probably territorial. Pair formation may take place when birds are young and still in immature plumage. The courtship display has not been well documented. The female may collect a grass inflorescence, then perform a ‘Bobbing’ display directed towards the male, while singing or giving contact phrases. Both may angle their tails towards one another with raised crown feathers. A displaying male, may fly close to the female, creating a buzzing sound with his wings.

The nest is a thick-walled, oval ball of dry grass with a long vertical axis. It is built by both sexes and is well concealed by foliage. The outer part of the nest mainly comprises dry grass stems, with untidily protruding ends. Finer green grass is used for the inner walls. The entrance is round and usually faces into the vegetation. The nest is lined with feathers, and more are added throughout incubation. The nest is placed up to 3m above the ground in a shrub or tree.

The Violet-eared Waxbill has been recorded breeding in all months except September. Breeding peaks from December to May. Breeding usually takes place after summer rains, when grass inflorescences are available for feeding and nest building. Late breeding is due to delayed summer rains. 2 to 7 white eggs are laid per clutch. Incubation lasts up to 13 days and is done by both sexes. Shifts are shared equally, and the incubating bird leaves the nest immediately once its mate arrives. Newly hatched young are altricial and are brooded and fed by both parents. The nestling period lasts for 16 to 18 days.

Broods of the Violet-eared Waxbill are sometimes parasitised by the Shaft-tailed Whydah (Vidua regia). Around 33% of nests are parasitised with 1 to 5 whydah eggs per nest.

Further Resources

This species text is adapted from the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Ansie Dee Reis, Anthony Paton, Cobus Elstadt, Gerald Gaigher, Lance Robinson, Norman Barrett, Phillip Nieuwoudt, Roelof van der Breggen, Ryan Tippett, and Tony Archer is acknowledged.

Other names: Koningblousysie (Afrikaans); Cordonbleu grenadin (French); Granaatastrild Common (Dutch); Granatastrild, Blaubäckchen (German); Monsenhor (Portuguese).

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM. 2026. Violet-eared Waxbill Granatina granatina. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/09/23/violet-eared-waxbill-granatina-granatina/

List of bird species in this format is available here.

Bird identification, birding

Similar Species

Black-faced Waxbill (Estrilda erythronotos)

Common Waxbill (Estrilda astrild)

Cover image of Kalahari Scrub Robin by Ryan Tippett – Carnarvon district, Northern Cape

The Kalahari Scrub Robin belongs to the family MUSCICAPIDAE. This group of songbirds in the order Passeriformes is commonly known as the ‘Old World Flycatchers and Chats’. Members of the group share a number of anatomical features, including the presence of a well-developed 10th primary feather in the wing and adaptations for insect eating. The family comprises around 353 species from 57 genera. Southern African representatives include Flycatchers, Chats, Rock Thrushes, and Wheatears.

Identification

The adult Kalahari Scrub Robin is an overall sandy colour with an orange rump and a white eyebrow. The sexes are alike, although males are slightly larger than females. The head and neck are greyish brown. The conspicuous supercilium is white and broad. A black loral stripe is present below the supercilium and extends through the eye. The ear coverts are sandy brown. The mantle, back and rump are dull russet with a greyish wash. The upper tail coverts are rufous-orange, and the tail is chestnut-orange. The tail, often held erect, has a broad, black sub-terminal bar and white tips. The chin and throat are whitish to pale grey, and the rest of the underparts are pale buff, washed grey. The bill, legs, and feet are black, and the eyes are brown.

Juveniles and immatures resemble the adults, but they have blackish edges to the feathers on the crown, mantle and breast, giving a scaly appearance.

The Kalahari Scrub Robin most resembles the White-browed Scrub Robin (Cercotrichas leucophrys), but the latter has a double white wing bar and streaked underparts. The Karoo Scrub Robin (Cercotrichas coryphoes) is much darker overall and has a dark brownish-grey (not russet) tail and upper tail coverts.

Status and Distribution

The Kalahari Scrub Robin is fairly common across its range.

The Kalahari Scrub Robin is near-endemic to southern Africa, reaching beyond the sub-region into south-western Angola. In southern Africa, the Kalahari Scrub Robin occurs throughout Namibia (apart from the coastal desert), through Botswana to western Zimbabwe and southwards into western Limpopo Province, North West Province, north-western Free State and most of the Northern Cape.

Not threatened.

Habitat

The Kalahari Scrub Robin inhabits dry, sandy, open savanna with scattered low trees and bushes. Also Black Thorn Vachellia mellifera bushes fringing dry depressions and in scrub and wooded savanna. Patches of bare or almost bare ground are an important habitat requirement, as is the availability of scattered elevated perches. The Kalahari Scrub Robin is regular around animal watering points and cattle dips, where extensive areas of grazed and trampled ground, as well as dung-associated arthropods, provide good foraging opportunities. It also often enters the yards and gardens of rural homesteads.

Behaviour

The Kalahari Scrub Robin is usually resident but may undertake local seasonal movements during dry periods or when heavy rains lead to dense grass growth.

The Kalahari Scrub Robin is found singly or in pairs. It spends much of its time on the ground, where it typically runs and occasionally hops. On landing, it flicks its wings a few times, and raises the tail vertically. When anxious, the tail is often brought forward over the back, almost touching the head. At the same time, the wings may be drooped until the tips almost touch the ground. During the cooler winter months, the Kalahari Scrub Robin sunbathes in the early morning at the top of a bush or tree.

The Kalahari Scrub Robin forages on the ground, often up to 40 m from the nearest cover. It flicks through leaf and twig debris under shrubs and fallen thorny branches while searching for food. It is an insectivore, with arthropods making up the vast majority of its diet. Harvester termites and ants are an important component of the diet. Other arthropods, including beetles, butterflies, moths, caterpillars, plant bugs, grasshoppers, mantids, and spiders, are also consumed, as are small quantities of drupes or berries.

Monogamous, solitary nester, territorial. Breeding territory advertised by singing male; disputes between rival males involve much singing and posturing with puffed-out breast feathers and vertically cocked tails. Disputes can develop into fights, combatants buffeting each other in shrubs and in vertical flights up to ca 4 m high, before falling to ground. In courtship, male bows and flaps partially extended wings while alternately raising and depressing fully fanned tail.

The nest is an open, often untidy structure of dry grass and leaves and (sometimes) fine twigs; compact cup lined with fine tendrils, rootlets and occasionally animal hair. From ground up to ca 1.5 m above ground; usually in thorny shrub and partially concealed by climbing grass, but many nests not well concealed. Around homesteads, may be placed in artefact such as empty tin. In moister eastern parts of range, Jul-Jan, peak Oct. In drier regions, may breed opportunistically after rainfall at any time of year, although regular seasonal br likely in summer.

2 to 4 eggs are laid per clutch, laid at daily intervals. Oval to elliptically oval. Usually white to off-white (rarely pale greenish white), speckled and spotted with yellowish brown and russet, with smears of greyish purple; markings usually concentrated over obtuse half, often coalesced into ring or cap. Incubation starts at clutch completion. Period 13 days female only. Newly hatched young are altricial and are naked with no down feathers. Dorsal skin dark greyish black, underparts pale flesh colour; gape yellowish orange. Nestling period 14 d. No distraction displays described. Infrequent host of Diderick Cuckoo.

Further Resources

This species text is adapted from the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Alan Manson, Ansie Dee Reis, Gregg Darling, Karis Daniel, Richard Johnstone, Rick Nuttall, Ryan Tippett, Sybrand Venter, and Tony Archer is acknowledged.

Other common names: Kalahari Robin (Alt. English); Kalahariwipstert (Afrikaans); Phênê (Tswana); Agrobate du Kalahari (French); Kalahari-waaierstaart (Dutch); Kalahariheckensänger (German); Rouxinol-do-mato do Kalahari (Portuguese).

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2026. Kalahari Scrub Robin Cercotrichas galactotes. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/09/20/kalahari-scrub-robin-cercotrichas-galactotes/

A list of bird species in this format is available here.

Bird identification, birding

Similar Species

Karoo Scrub Robin (Cercotrichas coryphoeus)

Cover image: African Harrier-Hawk by Lia Steen – Shelly Beach, KwaZulu-Natal

The African Harrier-Hawk belongs to the family ACCIPITRIDAE (Hawks, Eagles, Vultures, and Kites). The Accipitridae is a family of small to very large birds of prey (Raptors) with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-sized mammals, with some feeding on carrion and others consuming fruit. The Accipitridae have a global distribution across all the world’s continents (except Antarctica) and many oceanic island groups. Some species are migratory. The family contains 250 species from 74 genera.

Identification

The African Harrier-Hawk is the largest grey hawk in the region. It has a small head with a yellow face and long thin yellow legs.

In adults, the combination of a small head, broad wings, and a long tail with a broad white central band is unlike that of any other hawk. The sexes are alike. The bare facial skin is yellow, but can flush red, pink, or greyish yellow depending on mood, especially during the breeding season. The crown can be raised into a crest, and the neck feathers are elongated and can be raised to form a ruff. The upper parts, including the upper wing coverts, are mostly bluish-grey, and the scapulars have sub-apical black spots. The rump and upper tail coverts are barred in black and white. The tail is black, tipped white, with a broad white band across the middle. The throat and upper breast are grey. The rest of the underparts are finely barred dark-grey and white. Females are often more boldly barred below. The bill is black, but the base of the lower mandible and the cere are whitish. The legs and feet are yellow and covered in rough scales. The eyes are dark brownish-black.

In flight, the underwing pattern is distinctive, showing finely barred black and white underwing coverts and broad black margins to the flight feathers.

Juvenile plumage colouration varies widely, from fairly plain to dappled or scruffy. The rate of development from juvenile to adult plumage also varies considerably, with increasing amounts of grey in the feathers. The upper parts are various shades of brown and white. The underparts are brown, suffused with buff-brown and white patches. The tail is dark brown, but paler near the base, and broadly barred blackish-brown.

Adult African Harrier-Hawks are readily identifiable, but perched birds superficially resemble the Pale Chanting Goshawk (Melierax canorus) and Dark Chanting Goshawk (Melierax metabates). The two goshawks lack bare facial skin and the white central tail band.

Status and Distribution

The African Harrier-Hawk is found throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa, except for the most arid regions. It is widespread in southern Africa, but largely absent from the drier west, including southern Namibia, the central Kalahari, and much of the Karoo. It is strangely absent from the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe and adjacent Mozambique.

The African Harrier-Hawk is fairly common in southern Africa.

The African Harrier-Hawk is not threatened and it is well-represented in protected areas.

Habitat

The African Harrier-Hawk inhabits a variety of closed and open woodlands. It also occupies forest edges and canopies but avoids the forest interior. It also frequents Eucalyptus plantations and tall trees in parks and gardens. For hunting, it favours wooded cliffs, ravines and similar rocky habitats with trees, as well as tall trees along drainage lines and those fringing lakes and dams.

Behaviour

The African Harrier-Hawk is resident and sedentary in moister regions, but populations may be nomadic in drier habitats such as the southern parts of the Nama Karoo.

The African Harrier-Hawk is usually solitary, but is occasionally seen in pairs or family groups. Frequently mobs other raptors and owls. Occasionally seen sunbathing by lying on the ground with wings partially open. The African Harrier-Hawk also drinks and bathes regularly. The flapping flight is characteristically slow, leisurely, and buoyant, with deep wing beats.

The African Harrier-Hawk is a versatile hunter, but specialises in raiding the nests of small birds and other prey items it finds in holes, cracks, and crevices. It has special morphological adaptations that enable it to do this. These include a noticeably small head and a laterally compressed bill, as well as highly flexible intertarsal joints, which allow the legs to bend in different directions. They can also climb or clamber using their wings and feet. With these adaptations, the African Harrier-Hawk can inspect holes and crevices and extricate prey from awkward positions.

It uses a variety of hunting methods, including low soaring, high soaring, perch hunting and canopy and ground foraging. Low soaring is the most commonly used method. The harrier-hawk flies close to the canopy, aiming to get mobbed by small passerine birds. The African harrier-hawk assesses the level of aggression shown towards it to indicate the presence of nest sites. They have been observed to turn around when the mobbing becomes less aggressive. Once it has found the area where the mobbing birds are most aggressive, it will begin searching for the nest location. Hunting while soaring higher up and perch hunting are mostly used in open areas to find ground-dwelling prey like lizards and arthropods. On the ground, they walk about, looking for the eggs of ground-nesting birds, turning over cowpats and inspecting holes or fallen logs. The African Harrier-Hawk is best known for clambering through tree canopies, up tree trunks and on cliffs or rock faces, hopping from branch to branch or along ledges while searching for prey. It often climbs under overhanging branches or clings to holes on tree trunks, using its flexible legs to reach into cavities while the wings provide stability and balance.

A hunting bird may pause and listen for the begging calls of nestlings. Searches Hamerkop nests, the skirts of palms and tree aloes, the roofs of houses, and telephone poles in a similar manner. Nests on the ends of thin branches are raided with ease, the bird flapping to keep its balance while reaching into the nest with one foot to extract nestlings. Weaver colonies, heronries, or groups of swallow nests may be visited regularly as they are rich sources of food.

The African Harrier-Hawk feeds on a wide variety of small animals. They have a particular fondness for the eggs and chicks of many other bird species. Adult birds are seldom taken. Reptiles, especially lizards, mammals up to the size of squirrels, bats, frogs, and insects are also consumed. They occasionally eat carrion, roadkill, and stranded fish.

The African Harrier-Hawk breeds from August to December. Most of its breeding activity has been recorded in eastern areas. The reason for the general lack of breeding records from the northwestern regions of southern Africa is not known; either breeding sites are overlooked, or the species may be primarily a non-breeding visitor from the east.

They are usually monogamous. Pairs are highly territorial and maintain their territories year-round. At the onset of the breeding season, one or both members of a pair display by soaring high in the air. Sometimes with exaggerated wing flapping. Occasionally, the male stalls, falls backwards and drops into a dive towards the soaring female, who turns onto her back and extends her legs so they briefly touch talons. The male also courtship-feeds the female, and copulation occurs before or after courtship feeding. At the nest, the male may present the female with a leafy twig after copulation. The faces of both flush red and remain flushed throughout the mating sequence. Copulation continues throughout incubation and into the early nestling period and is thought to be important in reinforcing the pair bond.

The nest is a platform of sticks with a shallow bowl in the centre and thickly lined with green leaves. The nest is placed in the main fork or upper canopy of a tree. Nests are less often built on cliffs. The same nest may be used for several years, and the pair may add additional material over the years. The African Harrier-Hawk has also been recorded to use the nests of other raptor species.

1 to 3 eggs are laid per clutch at 3-day intervals. Incubation begins with the first egg laid and lasts up to 36 days. Both sexes share incubation duties, although the bulk is done by the female. The male mostly incubates for short periods when the female goes off to hunt. The male brings food to the incubating female, especially in the early stages of incubation. Apon the male’s approach, the female calls from a begging posture, and the male often presents the female with a leafy twig at changeover. The newly hatched young are altricial. Chicks are constantly attended by the female and fed by the male. Unusually for a raptor, chicks do not defecate outside the nest. In two-chick broods, the older chick may sometimes kill its younger sibling. Fledglings leave the nest area at around 50 days of age. They remain partially dependent on the parents for at least another 10 days or so.

Further Resources

Species text from the First Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Alan Manson, Andre Kok, Cobus Elstadt, Colin Summersgill, Corrie du Toit, Dawie de Swardt, Johan van Rooyen, Lia Steen, and Ryan Tippett is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Gymnogene (Alt. English), Kaalwangvalk (Afrikaans); Kleine Kaalkopkiekendief (Dutch); Serpentaire gymnogène, Gymnogène d’Afrique (French); Schlangensperber, Höhlenweihe (German); Secretário-pequeno (Portuguese).

List of species available in this format.

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2026. African Harrier-Hawk Polyboroides typus. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/09/13/african-harrier-hawk-polyboroides-typus/

Bird identification, birding

Similar Species

Pale Chanting Goshawk (Melierax canorus)

Cover image of Western Barn Owl by Gerald Wingate – Berg River Estuary, Western Cape

The Western Barn Owl belongs to the family TYTONIDAE. This family includes the Barn Owls, Bay Owls, and Grass Owls. Tytonidae is one of the two families of owls, the other being the typical owls, Strigidae. Tytonidae differ from the Strigidae in structural details, particularly relating to the sternum and feet. The Tytonidae are medium to large owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs with powerful talons. They live in a wide range of habitats from semi-deserts to forests, and from temperate latitudes to the tropics. The family comprises 20 species from 2 genera. 2 species are found in southern Africa.

Identification

The Adult Western Barn Owl has a white heart-shaped facial disc and a relatively large head. The upper parts are golden-brown and grey, with fine black-and-white spots. The underparts and upper legs are entirely buff-white with small black spots. The bill is pale pink. The eyes are blackish-brown, appearing somewhat small for an owl. The legs and feet are greyish-brown. In flight, the brown upper parts contrast with the pale underparts, and the tail is noticeably short and obscured from below by the large feet. The sexes are similar in plumage colouration, but females are often slightly darker than males and more spotted below. The Western Barn Owl has a distinctly upright stance, on long, slender legs.

Juveniles resemble adults, but are slightly darker above and more buff-coloured below.

In some regions, the Western Barn Owl overlaps with the larger and darker African Grass Owl (Tyto capensis). The latter has dark brown upperparts with fine white spots, not golden-brown and grey with black-and-white spots.

Status and Distribution

The Western Barn Owl has a cosmopolitan distribution; it occurs on all continents, except Antarctica, and is also found on many of the world’s islands. It is widespread in southern Africa and is found virtually throughout the subregion.

The abundance of the Western Barn Owl has been little studied in southern Africa. It is prone to considerable fluctuations in population size between years due to variable productivity linked to the availability of food.

The Western Barn Owl is not threatened. It is mostly common across its large range, from suburbia to large wilderness conservation areas.

Occasional victim of accidental poisoning from eating contaminated rodents.

Habitat

The Western Barn Owl occupies almost any habitat with abundant food and suitable roosting and nesting sites, from desert to forest fringes. It generally prefers open habitats, including lightly wooded savanna, grasslands, and farmland. Nomadism and annual fluctuations in numbers make assessment of its true habitat preferences difficult.

Frequently in association with humans; urban, suburban and rural.

Behaviour

In southern Africa, the Western Barn Owl is resident and sedentary when its food supply is stable. Rodents are its main prey, but rodent populations are prone to wide fluctuations in abundance, especially in arid areas. Therefore, in many areas, all or most of the Western Barn Owl population is nomadic. No regular movements are known, but extensive dispersal of juveniles is indicated by ringing returns over at least 579 km, as well as records at sea.

The Western Barn Owl roosts by day, most often in a cavity, or sometimes perched among dense foliage. They occasionally roost solitarily, but pairs usually roost together. It prefers secluded caves, crevices, tree holes, Hamerkop and Sociable Weaver nests, mine shafts, and eroded dumps, or buildings. Roost sites are easily recognisable by the accumulation of regurgitated pellets outside or on the roost floor. If disturbed at the roost, the Western Barn Owl either weaves its head from side to side and hisses, or draws itself erect with eyes narrowed into slits.

Western Barn Owls emerge in darkness, shortly after dusk. They are rarely diurnal. After foraging, they may fly around, giving their distinctive territorial screech, or they might sit at a favourite perch to preen.

The Western Barn Owl hunts most actively as soon as darkness falls, ranging at least 2-16 km from the nest or roost area. It hunts from low perches or, most often, in silent flight, and rarely hunts from the ground. Courses slowly over vegetation, flapping, gliding and occasionally hovering, with face directed downwards to look and listen for prey. Usually drops feet-first onto prey and sometimes pursues birds in flight. The Western Barn Owl is known to snatch sleeping birds from their roosts and also raids nests. Prey is killed with a bite to the hind neck, or by squeezing with the powerful feet.

The diet of the Western Barn Owl has been well studied by analysing the contents of regurgitated pellets.

Prey ranges in size from hares and young francolin down to termites. The Western Barn Owl, however, eats mostly rodents, which constitute up to 97% of its diet. The balance is largely made up of shrews and birds. In urban areas, small birds may dominate the diet, and in deserts, geckos and scorpions. On occasion, they have been known to eat bats, frogs and lizards. The Western Barn Owl eats mostly mammals in winter, supplemented by birds and insects in summer. After eating, indigestible bones and hair are regurgitated as a large, dark pellet.

The Western Barn Owl is monogamous and territorial. Pairs nest solitarily, but nests can be as close as 50 m apart in ‘boom’ years. Before egg laying, Western Barn Owl pairs become increasingly vocal and territorial, and the frequency of allopreening increases. Documented courtship behaviour includes aerial chases and the male’s courtship feeding of the female.

Western Barn Owls do not build a true nest but rather scrape a shallow depression on the nest cavity floor. They nest in a variety of cavities above or below the ground, among rocks or in tree holes, large nest masses (especially of Hamerkop), mine shafts and dumps, or buildings. The nest site is usually used repeatedly over long periods.

Eggs are laid year-round, with a peak from February to May across most of southern Africa. However, egg-laying is normally earlier, from August to December in the winter-rainfall region. 2 to 13 eggs are typically laid per clutch, but up to 19 eggs may be laid in ‘boom’ years. Eggs are laid at 1-to-3-day intervals. They are white and rounded-oval in shape.

Incubation starts with the first egg laid and lasts for 29 to 34 days. The female does all the incubation but is fed at the nest by the male, only rarely hunting for herself. In large and successive broods, chicks may inadvertently help in incubation. Eggs hatch asynchronously in the sequence laid. The young are altricial and the eyes first open after 8 to 14 days. They are brooded and fed by the female on food delivered by the male. Occasionally, older nestlings feed their younger siblings, but when food is scarce, older nestlings may kill younger ones. At around 30 days old the hatchlings begin to emit noisy begging calls, and the female starts to assist in prey delivery, leaving the chicks alone in the nest.

The nestling period lasts up to 55 days, but less if food is abundant. The female and a brood of 4 chicks require about 34 kg of food by the time the chicks fledge. This roughly equates to 1700 rodents! Juveniles often return to the nest for at least the first week after fledging. They learn to catch their own prey within 1 month of fledging.

The breeding success of the Western Barn Owl is highly variable from year to year, even for resident pairs. Broods of 8 to 10 are often raised in good seasons. The owls can achieve very high provisioning rates and productivity during rodent plagues, but many nestlings may starve if the plague ends before breeding is completed.

Further Resources

This page is adapted from the species text in the First Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Andre Kok, F.A. Vermeulen, Gerald Wingate, Joanne Putter, Josu Meléndez Arteaga, Lance Robinson, Les Underhill, Mark Stanton, Marius Meiring, Rick Nuttall, Ryan Tippett, and Tino Herselman is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Barn Owl (Alt. English); Nonnetjie-uil (Afrikaans); isiKhova, umZwelele (Zulu); Isikhova (Xhosa); Alba Witte Kerkuil (Dutch); Effraie des clochers (French); Schleiereule (German); Coruja-das-torres (Portuguese).

List of species available in this format.

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2026. Western Barn Owl Tyto alba. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/09/07/western-barn-owl-tyto-alba/

Bird identification, birding

Similar Species

Cover image of Grey Tit by Felicity Ellmore – Vredendal district, Western Cape

The Grey Tit is a member of the Family PARIDAE (Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice). They are mainly small, stocky, woodland species with short, stout bills. Some species have crests. Overall, the Paridae are very similar in general morphology. They are mostly adaptable birds, with a mixed diet including seeds and insects. Most tits live in forested habitats, from boreal coniferous forests in the north to humid tropical forests in the south. A small number occupy desert scrub and other arid habitats. All species require cavities in which to nest. This family comprises 62 species from 13 genera. 7 species occur in southern Africa.

Identification

The Grey Tit is a fairly small grey, black-and-white passerine. Its common name is misleading, as it is not as grey as the closely related Ashy Tit (Melaniparus cinerascens).

The sexes are similar but differ slightly in plumage colouration.

In adult males, the crown, lores, upper cheeks, and nape are black with a slight gloss. A broad buffy-white band extends from the base of the bill across the cheeks and ear coverts to the sides of the neck. There is a buffy-white patch at the edge of the upper mantle. The rest of the mantle, scapulars and rump are dark greyish-brown. The tail is dusky-brown with buff-white outer tail feathers. The lower cheeks, chin, throat, and sides of the foreneck are black. The black extending as an ‘arrow’-shaped bib onto the upper belly. The sides of the breast, lower belly and flanks are pinkish buff. The bill is black, the eyes are dark brown, and the legs and feet are grey.

Females are similar to males, but the cap is sooty black and less glossy. The throat and bib are brownish-black and less extensive than in males. Juveniles resemble the adults but have a brownish black cap, a browner back, and the primaries and secondaries have buffy edges.

The grey Tit is quite similar to the Ashy Tit (Melaniparus cinerascens). However, the latter has a white, not buffy-white, patch from the base of the bill to the hind neck. The Ashy Tit also has a bluish-grey, not grey-brown, back, and its flanks are grey, not pinkish buff.

Status and Distribution

The Grey Tit is fairly common across most of its range but is uncommon in very arid regions. It is endemic to southern Africa and occurs in south-western Namibia, the Northern and Western Cape, east to the south-western Free State, the Eastern Cape and the Lesotho highlands.

The Grey Tit is not threatened. It is common and occupies habitats that are not presently under threat.

Habitat

Across much of its range in the Nama and Succulent Karoo, it is associated with karroid scrub, usually in rocky places, on hillsides and around koppies. The Grey Tit also inhabits dry woodland along seasonal rivers, dwarf shrublands, strandveld, renosterveld and farmyards. In Lesotho, it occupies rocky areas and slopes with moderate to thick scrub cover.

Behaviour

The Grey Tit is resident but often locally nomadic in drier areas. It is usually seen in pairs or small family groups of 3 to 6 birds. They roost singly in cavities in trees and stone walls, and in steel pipes.

The Grey Tit is an active species that moves restlessly through vegetation. It is rather vocal and calls frequently while foraging. Forages on branches and among the foliage of trees and bushes, hopping about and hanging upside down to glean items from crevices in bark and twigs. They often break open thorns to extract insect larvae and peck at the bases of dry seed heads to test for the presence of insect larvae or seed parasites.

The Grey Tit eats mostly insects, especially butterfly and moth caterpillars. It also consumes ants and termites as well as their alates. They also feed on beetles, spiders, and sometimes small berries. Some food items are first stunned by bashing them against a stone or branch before swallowing them whole. Larger items, including large caterpillars, are first bashed, then held down with a foot to be eaten in manageable chunks.

The Grey Tit is a facultative cooperative breeder, and all group members participate in searching for suitable nest sites. The nest is built by both sexes in around 14 days. The nest is a thick pad of hair, feathers, sheep’s wool and grass or other fine plant material. It is located at the bottom of a cavity in a tree, in an earthen bank, a stone wall, or a steel pipe. The Grey Tit sometimes also uses old nests of the Greater Striped Swallow (Cecropis cucullata).

Eggs are laid from Jul to Oct in the winter rainfall region of the Western Cape and from August to March across the rest of its range. 2 to 5 eggs are laid per clutch. The eggs are white, finely spotted with reddish, purple and grey, and are oval in shape. The incubation period lasts for around 12 days. All incubation is done by the female. She is fed throughout by the male, who calls the female out of the nest to receive food.

The newly hatched young are undescribed. The nestling period lasts around 20 days. Nestlings are fed mainly caterpillars by the parents and 2 or 3 helpers. Almost fully fledged nestlings come to the nest entrance to receive food.

Further Resources

This species text is adapted from the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Felicity Ellmore, Johan van Rooyen, Karis Daniel, Lance Robinson, Marna Buys, Ryan Tippett, Sybrand Venter, Tino Herselman, and Zenobia van Dyk is acknowledged.

Other common names: Southern Grey Tit (Alt. English); Piet-tjou-tjou-grysmees (Afrikaans); Mésange petit-deuil (French); Kaapse Mees (Dutch); Kapmeiseerman); Chapim-cinzento-meridional (Portuguese).

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2026. Grey Tit Melaniparus afer. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/08/31/grey-tit-melaniparus-afer/

A list of bird species in this format is available here.

Bird identification, birding

Cover image: Klaas’s Cuckoo by Tony Archer – Near Klerksdorp, North West

Cuckoos belong to the Family CUCULIDAE. This family includes Cuckoos, Coucals, Malkohas, Anis, Roadrunners, Couas, etc. It is a diverse group that contains both parasitic and nonparasitic species. They vary in size from small to large, with strong, sometimes deep and stout bills that are arched on the culmen. Their tails are mostly relatively long and heavy, and their wing may be long and pointed or short and rounded. Many species have crests, and the plumage is variable but is often spotted and barred. They have zygodactyl feet, and most species are arboreal, although a few are terrestrial. The Cuculidae have a worldwide distribution, although most are found in the tropics and subtropics. The family comprises 36 genera and 156 species. 20 species are known from southern Africa.

Identification

Klaas’s Cuckoo is an attractive, small cuckoo. They are sexually dimorphic, differing markedly in plumage colouration.

Adult males are uniformly bright, metallic green above, aside from a conspicuous white ear patch. The upper tail is glossy green with a bronzy sheen. The outer tail feathers are white. The undersides are pristine white with a metallic green half-collar from in front of the wings to the sides of the breast. The flanks are narrowly green-barred, and the leggings are white, with green streaks. The bill is greenish-black to black. The eyes are dark brown and the eye ring is green. The legs and feet are greenish-black.

Adult females have a greyish-brown head, the colour extending down the sides of the neck and to the upper breast and with a small white patch behind the eye. The upper back is also greyish brown, while the lower back is barred green and brown. The rump is brown with a copper sheen. The tail is white at the base. The central two pairs of rectrices are coppery brown. The rest of the tail feathers are white, each with a large coppery subterminal spot and 1 or 2 incomplete black bars. The folded wings are barred green and brown. The underparts are white with fine brown barring on the breast and flanks. The thighs are also barred in dull metallic green and buff. The bill is greenish with a black tip. The eyes are brownish-grey with a pale green eye ring. The legs and feet are greenish.

The sexes are alike in juveniles. The head and back are iridescent green with buff-brown barring and an indistinct white streak behind the eye. The tail has bronze-brown central rectrices with buff barring near the base and edges. The outer rectrices are white with black bars near the tip. The folded wings are metallic green with buff barring. Underparts are white and heavily barred bronze-green from the chin to the undertail coverts. The bill is black, and the eyes are rich brown.

Adult males can be mistaken for the male Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcy caprius). However, in the Klaas’s Cuckoo, the small white patch behind the eye and the green half-collar that extends onto the sides of the breast are diagnostic. Females of the two are similar to one another but are easily told apart by bill colour (red in Diederik Cuckoo and greenish-black in Klaas’s Cuckoo).

Female and juvenile Klaas’s Cuckoo are easily confused with the female and juvenile African Emerald Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx cupreus). The latter, however, lacks the white patch behind the eye and has a green-and-white (not brown-and-white) barred throat.

Status and Distribution

Klaas’s Cuckoo is found on the southern Arabian Peninsula, and widely in sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Sudan and Ethiopia, south to South Africa. In southern Africa, it occurs sparsely in central and northern Namibia, northern, eastern and south-eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and northern, eastern and southern South Africa. Klaas’s Cuckoo is largely absent from the arid regions of southern Africa.

Klaas’s Cuckoo is fairly common in southern Africa. It is not threatened and is well represented in protected areas. Its range in north-central South Africa appears to have expanded westward since the 1980s.

Habitat

Klaas’s Cuckoo inhabits forests, forest edges, and open or dense woodland, including thornveld, miombo (Brachystegia), and Mopane Colophospermum mopane woodlands. In otherwise unsuitable habitats, Klaas’s Cuckoo has adapted to parks, gardens, and alien trees around farmsteads. Reporting rates confirm its preference for forests, forest edge, and moist woodlands.

Behaviour

Klaas’s Cuckoo is an intra-African breeding migrant across most of its southern African range, arriving as early as August and departing in February. It is however, a resident in lowland areas.

Generally solitary and usually heard more often than seen. The Klaas’s Cuckoo’s distinctive song is delivered from a perch, either within foliage or from an exposed branch.

Klaas’s Cuckoo forages among foliage, gleaning invertebrates from leaves and occasionally hawking aerial prey. The diet consists mainly of butterflies and caterpillars, including large hairy ones, which are swallowed hairs and all. Large caterpillars are beaten against a branch before swallowing. A variety of other insects are also consumed, including bugs, beetles, moths, small grasshoppers, termites, and occasional seeds and fruit.

The Klaas’s Cuckoo is territorial. Territory size varies by habitat, and territories tend to be larger in drier areas. Males are believed to be promiscuous. Klaas’s Cuckoo is a brood parasite but is not host-specific and is known to parasitise at least 18 species in southern Africa. Batises, small warblers, and sunbirds are the primary hosts, including Cape Batis, Chinspot Batis and Pririt Batis, African Dusky Flycatcher, Bar-throated Apalis, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Long-billed Crombec. Also Grey, Amethyst, Scarlet-chested, Malachite, Collared, Greater Double-collared, White-bellied, Dusky and Marico Sunbirds.

The egg-laying behaviour is not well known. Eggs are laid from September to April, with a peak from October to December. Females usually lay 1 egg per nest and will also remove 1 egg from the host clutch. A female lays an average of 24 eggs per season. The eggs are oval and white to pale greenish-blue with rufous-brown spots, speckles, or blotches. The eggs of each female vary considerably in colour and markings, and each individual lays a consistent egg type throughout her lifetime. Each female is thought to specialise in parasitising a particular host species in which her eggs best match those of the host. However, the accuracy of the egg matching varies. In some cases, the accuracy of the match is remarkable, and the difference is undetectable to the human eye. In many instances, the colour is the same, but the size is not and sometimes neither the size nor colour matches.

The incubation period is 11 to 12 days and typically shorter than that of the host’s eggs. Therefore, the cuckoo egg usually hatches before those of the host. A newly hatched cuckoo chick is altricial, naked, and blind. Despite its feeble appearance, the cuckoo chick wastes little time in evicting the other eggs or nestlings from the nest. Their eyes first open at around 6 days. If handled, the cuckoo chick can excrete a nauseating black and brown fluid from the cloaca. The nestling period takes up to 21 days. When the young cuckoo first leaves the nest, it is very tame and a poor flier, but after 7 to 10 days it flies well. The young cuckoo remains with the host adults for up to 25 days after fledging.

Further Resources

Here is the species text the First Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Colin Summersgill, Dave Rimmer, Desire Darling, Gregg Darling, Joanne Putter, Johan Heyns, Kate Braun, Lia Steen, Rick Nuttall, Roelof van der Breggen, Ryan Tippett, and Tony Archer is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Meitjie (Afrikaans); Klaaskoekoek (Dutch); Coucou de Klaas (French); Klaaskuckuck (German); Cuco-bronzeado-menor (Portuguese).

List of species available in this format.

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2026. Klaas’s Cuckoo Chrysococcyx klaas. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/08/27/klaass-cuckoo-chrysococcyx-klaas/

Bird identification, birding

Similar Species

Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius)