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Cape Penduline Tit (Anthoscopus minutus)

Posted on 12/08/2026 by Ryan Tippett / 0 Comment

Cover image of Cape Penduline Tit by Roy Earle – Karas, Namibia

The Cape Penduline Tit belongs to the Family REMIZIDAE (Penduline Tits). These are tiny passerine birds related to the true tits but with finer, sharply pointed bills. Their wings are short and rounded, and their short tails are mostly notched. The common name of these birds derives from the globular suspended nest that most of them build. Some of these nests are unmatched in their ability to deceive predators. A conspicuous side entrance leads to a shallow false cavity, and the entry to the true nest chamber is a tube that, when not being used, lies flattened as the roof of the false entrance. This family comprises 11 species from 3 genera. 2 species occur in southern Africa.

Identification

The Cape Penduline Tit is one of the smallest bird species in southern Africa, reaching a length of 10cm and weighing just 7.5 grams.

**Cape Penduline Tit** *Anthoscopus minutus*
Middelburg district, Eastern Cape
Photo by Tino Herselman

The sexes are alike. In adults, the forehead and short supercilium are mottled black and white, colour extending back into short supercilium. A narrow black eye stripe extends from the lores to just behind the eye. The cheeks and ear coverts are whitish-grey. The rest of the upper parts are pale brownish grey. The tail is darker greyish-brown with buffy tips. The chin and throat are white and the breast, belly and undertail coverts are pale buffy yellow. Colouration of the bill varies from grey to greyish-black. The eyes are pale brown, surrounded by an indistinct whitish eye ring. The legs range in colour from black to dark blueish-grey.

Juveniles are like adults, but their upper parts are browner and their underparts are paler yellow. Additionally, the edges of the flight and tail feathers are washed pale yellow.

**Cape Penduline Tit** *Anthoscopus minutus*
Carnarvon district, Northern Cape
Photo by Ryan Tippett

The Cape Penduline Tit is most likely to be mistaken for the similarly sized Grey Penduline Tit (Anthoscopus caroli). The latter has a plain buff (not black-and-white) forehead and buff (not pale yellow) underparts. The Yellow-bellied Eremomela (Eremomela icteropygialis) is also similar, but has a plain grey forehead, and a grey (not pale yellow) breast and a longer bill.

**Cape Penduline Tit** *Anthoscopus minutus*
Near Calvinia, Northern Cape
Photo by Alan Manson

Status and Distribution

The Cape Penduline Tit is locally common and near-endemic to southern Africa. It ranges from south-western Angola, across much of Namibia, throughout Botswana, south-western Zimbabwe and most of South Africa, except for the Limpopo lowveld, most of Mpumalanga, the eastern Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and the north-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape. The Cape Penduline Tit is also absent from Lesotho.

SABAP2 distribution map for **Cape Penduline Tit** *Anthoscopus minutus* – December 2024.
Details for map interpretation can be found here.

The Cape Penduline Tit is not threatened. It remains widespread and responds positively to bush encroachment from overgrazing in drier areas.

**Cape Penduline Tit** *Anthoscopus minutus*
Karoo National Park, Western Cape
Photo by Alan Manson

Habitat

The Cape Penduline Tit is found in several arid and semi-arid habitats throughout the region, particularly succulent and Nama Karoo shrublands and Kalahari thornveld. In the Fynbos biome, it is confined to lowland renosterveld and coastal strandveld. It is not found in mountain fynbos. In the Eastern Cape province, the Cape Penduline Tit is also found in Vachellia karoo thickets along watercourses. In the dwarf dwarf shrublands of the Karoo, it is most partial to areas of taller shrubs, especially along drainage lines.

Behaviour

The Cape Penduline Tit is resident and locally nomadic in response to rainfall. It is most often found in small family groups of up to 8 birds, rarely more. It is occasionally found in pairs. Groups are smallest in the non-breeding season.

**Cape Penduline Tit** *Anthoscopus minutus*
Near Bloemfontein, Free State
Photo by Rick Nuttall

Cape Penduline Tits roost in the nest, sometimes also in old Southern Masked Weaver nests. During the breeding season, 4 to 8 birds may roost in 1 nest. After breeding, up to 18 birds may roost in a single nest.

**Cape Penduline Tit** *Anthoscopus minutus*
Near Bultfontein, Free State
Photo by Lance Robinson

Cape Penduline Tits forage in family groups, venturing up to 1.5 km from the roost nest. They forage among the branches of shrubs and trees, gleaning insects from leaves, twigs, and bark. They occasionally hang upside down to access hard-to-reach places. The Cape Penduline Tit probes galls and searches spider webs. Large food items are held with 1 foot and torn into smaller pieces.

The diet consists of insects like beetles and caterpillars, including their eggs and larvae, as well as spiders. They also consume small fruits, including those of honey-thorns (Lycium spp).

In the winter rainfall zone of the Western Cape province, egg-laying has been recorded from July to November but extends from September to March across the rest of its range. The Cape Penduline Tit breeds in response to rainfall. The Cape Penduline Tit is monogamous and nests solitarily. They are facultative cooperative breeders. The nest is built by both sexes and takes around 1 month to construct. Following nest destruction by a predator or severe weather, a replacement nest may be constructed.

**Cape Penduline Tit** *Anthoscopus minutus*
Klerksdorp district, North West
Photo by Tony Archer

The nest is an oval bag, made from plant down, especially the pappuses of Asclepiadaceae, Karoo rosemary/Kapokbos (Eriocephalus spp) and the Camphor Bush Tarchonanthus camphoratus, as well as the fur of hares and the wool of Angora goats and sheep. It is bound together with spider webs. The outside is sometimes decorated with spider egg capsules. The nest is usually whitish, but may be almost black where Karakul and Nama sheep occur, or a patchwork of white, brown and black wool. Near the top is a soft and collapsible entrance spout, below which is a small, curved ledge, used as perch by the incoming bird as it opens the entrance spout with 1 foot. The opening closes automatically, forming a roof over the ledge which creates a ‘false entrance’ to deceive predators. The nest is usually attached at the top and sides with spider web to thin branches inside a thorny tree or shrub. In the Karoo, the nest is usually situated 1 to 3 m above the ground, but up to 7m high in other regions.

4 to 7 plain white eggs are laid per clutch at daily intervals. The incubation period lasts up to 15 days and is done by both sexes. Newly hatched young are altricial, and the nestling period lasts for up to 22 days. The young are fed by both parents and 1 or 2 helpers. Fledglings from the first brood roost in the nest at night along with the eggs and young of the second brood. The Cape Penduline Tit is frequently double-brooded.

**Cape Penduline Tit** *Anthoscopus minutus*
Stompneusbaai, Western Cape
Photo by John Todd

Further Resources

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

The use of photographs by Alan Manson, John Todd, Lance Robinson, Rick Nuttall, Roy Earle, Ryan Tippett, Tino Herselman, and Tony Archer is acknowledged.

Other common names: Kaapse kapokvoël (Afrikaans); Unogushana, Unothoyi (Xhosa); Rémiz minute (French); Kaapse Kapokmees (Dutch); Weißstirn-Beutelmeise (German); Pássaro-do-algodão do Cabo (Portuguese).

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2026. Cape Penduline Tit Anthoscopus minutus. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/08/12/cape-penduline-tit-anthoscopus-minutus/

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

Bird identification, birding

Archive/Bird identification/Birding/Birds/Robben Island/Structured species text

Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus)

Posted on 10/08/2026 by Les Underhill / 0 Comment

Cover image of Indian Peafowl. Photograph taken 9 December 2023, at Vondeling Wine Farm, northwest of Wellington, Western Cape, South Africa.

The Indian Peafowl belongs to the Family Phasianidae (pheasants). There are currently 185 species in the family, in 54 genera. The genus Pavo contains two species, both are native to southern Asia: the Indian Peafowl, discussed here, and the Green Peafowl Pavo muticus, an Endangered species mostly in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia. There is also a peafowl in Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but it is a different genus: Congo Peafowl Afropavo congensis. Almost all of the 185 species in the pheasant family occur in the Old Word: Africa, Asia and Europe. The two turkey species are the only members of the family in the New World, in North America. The pheasants are terrestrial birds, and mostly feed on the ground. The chicks are prococial; they are covered with down when they hatch, with open eyes. They leave the nest within hours of hatching, and feed themselves.

Identification

Male Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) — *^{Male Indian Peafowl at N1 City, Cape Town, 27 December 2020. Photograph: Les Underhill}*

A male Indian Peafowl is instantly recognizable.

From the bill to the tip of the tail, this male is the width of this farm track.

Female Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) — *^{Indian Peafowl at Vondeling Wine Farm, 1 June 2023. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

Female Indian Peafowl, walking with a covey of Cape Spurfowl. Besides the crown feathers, she is a large bird. The neck of the female has a greenish-blue sheen; apart from that the colours are dull browns and creams.

Distribution

SABAP2 atlasers have recorded Indian Peafowl at many scattered locations across South Africa …

SABAP2 distribution map for Indian Peafowl, downloaded December 2024. Details of the interpretation for this form of the SABAP2 distribution maps are here.

Traditionally, the only genuinely self-sustaining population of Indian Peafowl was the one on Robben Island, but there are now multiple such populations across southern Africa. Some of them have been written up as papers in Biodiversity Observations:

Some of the pentads in which SABAP2 observers have recorded Indian Peafowl will likely be populations which are domestic, but many of these populations are likely becoming feral.

*^{Indian Peafowl at Kaalplek, Calvinia, Northern Cape, on 11 November 2018. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

For example, in November 2018, we did a Biobash to the Hantam, the region northeast of Calvinia in the Northern Cape. This male Indian Peacock was found roaming around the werf of a farm there. The Hantam had once been a major producer of wool, the farmers were wealthy, and many of the farmhouses were mansions. The region had been drought-stricken for years; see the blog! This farm, along with many others in the area, had been completely abandoned. No one there! The once-ornamental peafowl had become totally feral. This is the process that drives the scattered distribution on the SABP2 distribution map above.

Habitat

Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) in veneyard — *^{Indian Peafowl at Vondeling Wine Farm, 07h58 on 18 September 2024. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

These peafowl did not eat grapes in the vineyard of this wine farm where they were present throughout the year; if they did they would not be tolerated!

*^{Indian Peafowl at Vondeling Wine Farm, 24 April 2023. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

This covey of peafowl, both males and females, are feeding in rough pasture.

Behaviour

Although the spend the day on the ground, they fly up into trees, sometimes in a loose roost, for the night.

Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) flying up into a tree — *^{Indian Peafowl roosting at Vondeling Wine Farm, 17h32 on 18 August 2023. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

Male, flying up into a tree in the early evening and landing on a branch.

Pavo cristatus at roost — *^{Indian Peafowls roosting at Vondeling Wine Farm, August 2023. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

Male Indian Peafowls roosting in a pine tree at Vondeling Wine Farm.

Pavo cristatus still in roost at dawn — *^{Indian Peafowl roosting at Vondeling Wine Farm, 07h58 on 9 May 2023. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

Morning has arrived and this peafowl has not yet flown down from his overnight perch.

The males use their tails in elaborate displays to attract females.

Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) in display — *^{Indian Peafowl at Vondeling Wine Farm, 9 December 2023. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

… not impressed!

Pavo cristatus — *^{Indian Peafowl at Vondeling Wine Farm, 9 December 2023. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

Even with three males displaying, the females were not impressed.

Breeding

So, from time to time, the females do choose a male and lay eggs. Beyond fertilization, the males have no further role to play. Not only would it be awkward to try to incubate eggs with a clumsy tail that drags along the ground behind them, the bright colours would draw the attention of predators to the nest. The dull brownish colours of the female enable her to remain camouflaged on the nest.

Nest of Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) — *^{Nest of indian Peafowl on Robben Island on 16 February 2008. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

This was the only Indian Peafowl nest we ever found on Robben Island.

Nest of Pavo cristatus — *^{Nest of indian Peafowl on Robben Island on 16 February 2008. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

The nest was very much out in the open.

Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) — *^{Indian Peafowl at Vondeling Wine Farm, 18 February 2024. Photograph : Les Underhill}*

Here is a female, with the bluish neck, with her chicks, more than half-grown.

Background

The Indian Peafowl is the national bird of India. This map shows its natural range. In some parts of India its status gives it protection; in other parts it has become rare.

Native range of Pavo cristata — *^{Indian Peafowl range map (IUCN Red List). Own work, Zuanzuanfuwa, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons}*

The Indian Peafowl has been introduced all over the world. The primary objective was to use them as living ornaments in the gardens of the wealthy, an icon of luxury. But some escaped and became feral. There are suburbs in many parts of the world where the peafowl is the catalyst for human-human conflict. There are people who love them (they are beautiful) and there are people who hate them (they are raucous, including through the night, and their droppings are large, smelly and slippery).

So the posse of feral Indian Peafowl in N1 City during the pandemic in 2020 has disappeared. In the photographs below, they are walking in among the long queue of motorists in the “drive-through” Covid testing station in December 2020.

Occasionally they did an impromptu display as entertainment. The queue was several hours long.

*^{Male Indian Peafowl at N1 City, Cape Town, 27 December 2020. Photograph: Les Underhill}*

These peafowl likely became a source of human conflict, and somehow or other, they have disappeared.

Further resources

Other common names: Bloupou Patrys (Afrikaans), Blauwe pauw (Dutch), Paon bleu (French), Chukarhuhn (German), Pavone (Italian), Pavo real común (Spanish),.Påfågel (Swedish), Riikinkukko (Finnish), Paw indyjski (Polish)

Scientific papers:

Structured species test: A list of all the species with structured species texts like this one is available here

Recommended citation format: Underhill LG 2026. Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/08/10/indian-peafowl-pavo-cristatus/

Archive/Bird identification/Birding/Birds/Robben Island/Structured species text

Chukar Partridge (Alectoris chukar)

Posted on 09/08/2026 by Les Underhill / 0 Comment

Cover image of Chukar Partridge. Photograph taken on Robben Island.

The Chukar Partridge belongs to the Family Phasianidae (pheasants). There are currently 185 species in the family, in 54 genera. The genus Alectoris, to which the Chukar Partridge belongs, contains seven species. Most of the 185 species in the pheasant family occur in Africa, Asia and Europe, the Old World. The two turkey species are the only members of the family in the New World, in North America. The pheasants are terrestrial birds, and mostly feed on the ground. The chicks are prococial; they are covered with down when they hatch, with open eyes. They leave the nest within hours of hatching, and feed themselves.

Identification

Identification is easy. In southern Africa, you first of all need to be on Robben Island. Secondly, the head pattern and the stripes on the flanks are diagnostic!

Chukar Partridge — ^P^{hotograph: Les Underhill, Robben Island, 6 June 2016}

This is not a tricky species to identify!

Chukar Partridges on Robben Island — ^P^{hotograph: Les Underhill, Robben Island, 6 June 2016}

They are often in small groups.

Distribution

There is only one pentad in which the Chukar Partridge is recorded, and that is pentad 3345_1820, the one that contains Robben Island. You have to look hard at the distribution map above to spot the tiny yellow marker covering the island in Table Bay!

Habitat

Even on Robben Island itself, the distribution is quite limited. They are most frequently seen in and around the village at the southern corner of the island.

Here are two birds perched on the fence at House 23 on the island.

This little group is also in the village.

Habitat — ^P^{hotograph: Les Underhill, Robben Island, 22 December 2019}

This group is on the edge of the village. The bus that takes visitors on the prison tour passes this open space. It is one of the places where the Chukar Partridge is seen regularly.

Habitat for Chukar Partridges — ^P^{hotograph: Les Underhill, Robben Island, 7 November 2021}

Outside of the village itself, they tend to be restricted to areas where the vegetation is kept short.

In the short vegetation they can be quite hard to spot. There are two Chukar Partridges in this photograph. Relative to the centre, they are a bit to the left and down.

Breeding

There is a paper in the journal Biodiversity Observations which aims to estimate the timing of breeding of the Chukar Partridge on Robben Island. It suggested that start of the incubation ranged from the beginning of September until the middle of November, with a peak in 21 October; in summary, Chukar Partridges breed on Robben Island in spring. Only one nest has ever been found, so we don’t have a photo of a nest with eggs.

Chicks of Chukar Partridge — ^P^{hotograph: Rene Navarro, Robben Island, 4 December 2025}

These tiny chicks, hiding under a hedge, were a day or two old. This photo was taken on 4 December 2025. The incubation is about 23 days, so eggs would have been laid in early November.

Young of Chukar Partridge — ^P^{hotograph: Les Underhill, Robben Island, 21 December 2021}

This photo was taken early on the morning of 21 December 2021 on the kerb of the main road through the village on Robben Island. Clutch sizes of Chukar Partridges can be as big as 20 eggs, but eight to 15 is the normal range. In this particular cases, two broods had joined up to produce this large group of young birds.

Background

The Chukar Partridge has a vast range, mainly in Asia in the foothills of mountain ranges, including the Himalayas. The range is the area shaded green on the map below. Its preferred habitat consists of rocky hillsides with low vegetation. It is classified as Least Concern. There is considerable variation in plumage over its range, and there are currently 14 subspecies recognized.

*^{Distribution of}*^Alectoris^{species based on Christensen GC 1970. The Chukar Partridge. Biological Bulletin No. 4. Nevada Department of Wildlife. Map by L Shyamal. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10967077}

This is the range map for the seven species in the genus Alectoris to which the Chukar Partridge belongs.

It is considered a game bird for sport hunting, so it has been introduced in various countries, not always successfully.

This is how it reached Robben Island. Customs staff at the port of Cape Town confiscated a consignment of six Chukar Partridges. We think they had been bred in an aviary, and were destined for the aviary of a bird collector in Cape Town. For reasons that are lost in time, they were released on Robben Island in April 1964. We have no information on whereabouts in the range their ancestors had been taken, so we do not know the subspecies of the Robben Island birds. The size of the population on the island has fluctuated widely, inversely proportional to the size of the population of Feral Cats Felis catus. In the mid 2020s, the cat population was thought to be down to a handful, with maybe four adults, and the partridges were abundant. There were possibly a few hundred scattered across mainly the southern part of the island.

Further resources

Other common names: Asiatiese Patrys (Afrikaans), Aziatische steenpatrijs (Dutch), Perdrix choukar (French), Chukarhuhn (German), Coturnice orientale (Italian), Perdiz chúcar (Spanish).

Scientific paper: The key paper, with lots of information, including about attempts to introduce Chukar Partridges to other parts of southern Africa, is unfortunately behind a paywall: Vernon CJ, Dean WRJ 2022. The introduction of the Chukar Partridge Alectoris chukar to southern Africa. Ostrich 93: 157–159. You can read the abstract here.

Recommended citation format: Underhill LG 2026. Chukar Partridge Alectoris chukar. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/08/09/chukar-partridge-alectoris-chukar/

Archive/Bird identification/Birding/Birds

Long-billed Crombec (Sylvietta rufescens)

Posted on 07/08/2026 by Ryan Tippett / 0 Comment

Cover image of Long-billed Crombec by Johan van Rooyen – Swartberg, Western Cape

Crombecs belong to the Family MACROSPHENIDAE (African Warblers). This is a recently recognised collection of species from the once vast family Sylviidae. The family is confined to sub-Saharan Africa. Macrosphenidae comprises 18 species from six genera.

Identification

The Long-billed Crombec is a very small (10-12 cm), round-bodied warbler with an extremely short tail and a longish, slightly de-curved bill.

The sexes are alike. Adults are very short-tailed, appearing almost tailless in the field. The crown is brownish grey with a slightly buffier nape. It has a whitish to pale tawny supercilium with dark grey lores, that extend as an eye stripe to behind the eye. The ear coverts and cheeks are pale buff while the remainder of the upper parts, including the upper tail are brownish grey. The chin and throat are buffy white with indistinct grey mottling. The rest of the underparts are cinnamon-buff and the colouring is most intense on the belly and flanks. The bill is dark grey with a pinkish base. The eyes are brown and the legs and feet vary from pinkish to yellowish brown. Immatures closely resemble the adults but are paler below.

Long-billed Crombec (Sylvietta rufescens) — **Long-billed Crombec** *Sylvietta rufescens*
Cedarberg, Western Cape
Photo by Zenobia van Dyk

The Long-billed Crombec most resembles the Red-faced Crombec (Sylvietta ruficapilla). The latter is shorter-billed, with a darker, more uniformly rufous face that lacks the pale supercilium and dark eye stripe.

Status and Distribution

The Long-billed Crombec is widespread in southern Africa, and its range extends into Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and the DRC. In southern Africa, it is absent from Lesotho and from much of the grassland biome. It has strongholds in the woodlands of northern and eastern Botswana, the Limpopo province and the lowveld of Mpumalanga and eSwatini (Swaziland). In most other regions, its distribution appears discontinuous, presumably reflecting patchiness of suitable habitat.

The Long-billed Crombec is common across its southern African range.

SABAP2 distribution map : Long-billed Crombec (Sylvietta rufescens) — SABAP2 distribution map for **Long-billed Crombec** *Sylvietta rufescens* – December 2024.
Details for map interpretation can be found here.

The Long-billed Crombec is not threatened. It is widespread and relatively unspecialised in its habitat requirements.

Habitat

The Long-billed Crombec is most common in woodland habitats. It inhabits a variety of woodland types from dry savannas with scattered trees and bushes to mixed-species woodland with a well-developed, bushy understorey. In arid and semi-arid areas like the Karoo, it is found along drainage lines with taller shrubs, and in patches of taller scrub. In the Western Cape, it is found in taller fynbos and occasionally also alien Acacia thickets. Breeds in gardens in Namibia and the Karoo. It is not found in unwooded grasslands or forest interiors.

Behaviour

The Long-billed Crombec is most often encountered singly, in pairs, or in family groups. It is resident, but probably moves locally in response to rainfall in the drier parts of its range. They are fairly tame and confiding, moving restlessly through bushes and the lower canopies of trees. Typically flies into the lower part of a shrub or tree before working its way upwards, then flying on to the next shrub or tree. It has a bouncy, undulating flight.

The Long-billed Crombec frequently joins mixed-species foraging flocks. Forages with agile hops on trunks, branches, twigs and leaves. Often hangs upside-down to probe crevices in branches, and digs into termite tunnels on trees and fence posts. May hawk termites in flight, but returns to a perch to eat them. Gleans food from twigs and leaves, less frequently from branches and main stems or from the ground. The diet consists of invertebrates, including termites, spiders, mantids, beetles, ticks, caterpillars, and insect eggs. Also eats seeds, fruit, including grapes, and the nectar of various Aloe species.

**Long-billed Crombec** *Sylvietta rufescens*
Mokala National Park, Northern Cape
Photo by Sybrand Venter

The Long-billed Crombec breeds during spring and summer (August to March). It usually starts breeding a little earlier in the south of its range due to the influence of winter rainfall. The Long-billed Crombec is a monogamous, solitary nester. Pairs are territorial.

The nest is a small, deep-cupped bag built inside a tree or shrub, mostly less than 1m above the ground. It is open above with a distinctly raised lip around the lower rim of the opening. The ‘bag’ is made from shreds of inner-bark, leaf petioles, plant down, and fine bits of grass. It is held together and attached to the supporting twig by spider web silk. The exterior is decorated with rotten wood chips, caterpillar faeces, and skeletonised leaves. The cup is lined with fine, dry grass or plant down and sometimes sheep wool. Nest sites are sometimes reused in successive breeding seasons. It is built in 7 to 10 days.

**Long-billed Crombec** *Sylvietta rufescens*
Mabula Game Reserve, Limpopo
Photo by Lance Robinson

1 to 3 (usually 2) eggs are laid per clutch at 1 day intervals. Incubation usually starts at clutch completion and takes around 14 days. Incubation is performed by both sexes. The chicks are altricial and the nestling period takes a further 14 days. The young are fed and cared for by both adults. They are dependent on their parents for at least 10 days after leaving the nest. Broods of the Long-billed Crombec are occasionally parasitised by the Klaas’s Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx klaas).

Further Resources

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

The use of photographs by Alan Manson, Colin Summersgill, Johan van Rooyen, Karis Daniel, Lance Robinson, Mark Stanton, Ryan Tippett, Sybrand Venter, and Zenobia van Dyk is acknowledged.

Other common names: Cape Crombec, Long-billed Sylvietta (Alt. English); Bosveldstompstert (Afrikaans); iNdibilitshe (isiZulu)); Crombec à long bec (French); Kaapse Krombek (Dutch); Langschnabel-Sylvietta, Kurzschwanz-Sylvietta (German); Rabicurta-de-bico-comprido (Portuguese).

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2026. Long-billed Crombec Sylvietta rufescens. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/08/07/long-billed-crombec-sylvietta-rufescens/

List of bird species in this format is available here.

Bird identification, birding

Southern Tchagra (Tchagra tchagra)

Posted on 05/08/2026 by Ryan Tippett / 0 Comment

Cover image of Southern Tchagra by Attie van Aarde – Stilbaai, Western Cape

Tchagras belong to the Bushshrike family MALACONOTIDAE. Other members of this group include Boubous, Bushshrikes, Puffbacks, and Gonoleks. They are smallish passerine birds with robust bodies, strong legs and feet, and formidable shrike-like bills. Many are very colourful and most species are rather secretive. The majority occur in woodlands, but also in marshes, scrub and Afromontane or tropical forest. They were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group. The family is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa but is completely absent from Madagascar. The name Malaconotidae alludes to their fluffy back and rump feathers. The family comprises 50 species from 9 genera.

Identification

**Southern Tchagra** *Tchagra tchagra*
Near Wolsely, Western Cape
Photo by Alan Manson

Southern Tchagra sexes are alike. In adults, the crown is rufous-brown with an olive tinge. The supercilium is greyish in front of the eye and white behind. It is broad and long, almost extending onto the nape. The supercilium is bordered below by a bold, black eye stripe. The ear coverts and cheeks are pale greyish-brown, and the sides of the neck are also greyish-brown. The back is rich olive-brown with an olive-grey rump. Lesser and median wing coverts are rich rufous. The tail is blackish with white tips. The central pair of tail feathers are dark greyish-brown, with fine barring. On the underparts, the chin and throat are greyish white, and the rest of the underparts are grey, tinged olive. The bill is black, and the eyes are rich brown. The legs and feet are grey.

Juveniles resemble adults, but their upper parts are more olive tinged. The supercilium is buff-white and the tail tips are buff-coloured (not white).

Southern Tchagra (Tchagra tchagra) — **Southern Tchagra** *Tchagra tchagra*
Mossel Bay, Western Cape
Photo by Johan Heyns

The call of the Southern Tchagra is distinctive but could be confused with that of the Brown-crowned Tchagra (Tchagra australis). Visually, the two are also easily mistaken for one another. However, the latter is smaller and has a supercilium bordered above and below by black stripes and with a shorter, weaker bill. The ranges of the two species overlap marginally in KwaZulu-Natal. The Black-crowned Tchagra (Tchagra senegalus) has a black (not brown) crown and white (not grey) underparts.

Status and Distribution

The Southern Tchagra is common in the south of its range, but uncommon to rare in the north. It is endemic to South Africa and eSwatini (Swaziland). The Southern Tchagra occurs from the Mpumalanga escarpment south through western Eswatini to KwaZulu-Natal and west along the coastal plain to about Hermanus and Worcester in the Western Cape. It probably also extends marginally in southern Mozambique. It extends along river valleys up to 200 km inland, especially in the Karoo region of the Eastern Cape, although most records are from within 100km of the coast.

Sabap2 distribution map : Southern Tchagra (Tchagra tchagra) — SABAP2 distribution map for **Southern Tchagra** *Tchagra tchagra* – December 2024.
Details for map interpretation can be found here.

The Southern Tchagra is not threatened. There is some evidence of range expansion in the Western Cape since the 1980s. The Southern Tchagra is likely to have benefited from the spread of alien scrub and thickets in some areas.

Habitat

The Southern Tchagra favours low, near-impenetrable thickets. It inhabits coastal bush and scrub, the edges and clearings of coastal dune forest, thorny, tangled thickets along rivers, brush piles fringing cultivation, and tangled fynbos. In more arid areas, the Southern Tchagra occurs in dense stands of thorn trees Vachellia karoo along river corridors. At the northern limit of its range, it occurs in bracken and scrub at the ecotone between montane grassland and forest.

Behaviour

The Southern Tchagra is resident and sedentary throughout its range. It is usually encountered singly or in pairs and is a secretive bird of dense cover. It is infrequently seen, even where reputed to be quite common and is far more likely to be heard. They sometimes sing from an exposed perch on top of a bush, but dive for cover at the slightest disturbance. The Southern Tchagra rarely spends time in the open except to fly low to the next thicket. Flights are usually short, with the tail spread and with rapid wing-beats interspersed with glides. It typically creeps into the densest vegetation when disturbed.

The Southern Tchagra forages close to or on the ground. It hops and runs about, turning over plant material, occasionally foraging in open grass, but never far from cover. It gleans prey from low branches and stems.

**Southern Tchagra** *Tchagra tchagra*
Stilbaai, Western Cape
Photo by Attie van Aarde

The Southern Tchagra eats arthropods and their larvae, including ants, termite alates, grasshoppers, small beetles, crickets, caterpillars, spiders, millipedes, and snails. It also consumes smaller quantities of berries, small fruits, and seeds.

The Southern Tchagra is a monogamous, solitary nester and is strongly territorial. Territorial interactions involve excited side-to-side movements, bowing, ‘wing-fripping’, tail-cocking and flicking. It may also enact a flight display over bushes during territorial defence. During courtship, the male postures excitedly, bowing his body with tail fanned and head stretched up.

**Southern Tchagra** *Tchagra tchagra*
Stilbaai, Western Cape
Photo by Johan van Rooyen

Breeding has been recorded from August to December in the Western Cape and from October to December in KwaZulu-Natal. The nest is a shallow cup of fine plant stems, twigs and rootlets; lined with finer rootlets, sometimes with bits of hair. It is probably built by both sexes. It is usually placed in the fork of a dense shrub, about 1m above the ground. The nest is always well hidden. Old nests are sometimes re-used, with very little refurbishing. Pairs sometimes also build on the old nest of another species.

Two or three eggs are laid per clutch. They are white purple-grey and red-brown spots and scribbles. The incubation period lasts about 16 days. Newly hatched young are altricial and brooded almost constantly for the first days or so. The nestling period takes a further 13 to 16 days and the young are fed by both parents. Broods of the Southern Tchagra are sometimes parasitised by the Jacobin Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus).

**Southern Tchagra** *Tchagra tchagra*
Mountain Zebra National Park, Eastern Cape
Photo by Lance Robinson

Further Resources

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

The use of photographs by Alan Manson, Alex Briggs, Attie van Aarde, Johan Heyns, Johan van Rooyen, Lance Robinson, Pieter la Grange, and Roelof van der Breggen is acknowledged.

Other common names: Grysborstjagra (Afrikaans); Umnguphane (Xhosa); Tchagra du Cap (French); Kaapse Tsjagra (Dutch); Kaptschagra (German); Picanço-assobiador-austral (Portuguese).

A list of bird species which have a structured species text like this one is available here.

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2025. Southern Tchagra Tchagra tchagra. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/08/05/southern-tchagra-tchagra-tchagra/

Bird identification, birding

Southern Tchagra (Tchagra tchagra) singing — **Southern Tchagra** *Tchagra tchagra*
Gouritzmond, Western Cape
Photo by Pieter la Grange

Bird identification, birding, South Africa, Southern Boubou

Archive/Birds/Monitoring/Robben Island/Trip report

Counting African Oystercatchers on Robben Island : 31 July 2026

Posted on 03/08/2026 by Les Underhill / 0 Comment

The survey of the African Oystercatchers on Robben Island on Friday 31 July turned out blogworthy, not so much from the perspective of the oystercatchers, but because of other interesting things we observed.

The oystercatcher count was 411 birds, with no juveniles observed. The chicks which fledged after last summer’s breeding season, are no longer with their parents. The oystercatchers are currently in moult, replacing their primary feathers:

The oystercatcher on the left is about half-way through moult. Looking at both wings, there are four new primary feathers and four old feathers. The old ones are the outer primaries and they are brownish and getting tatty, and most clearly seen on the left wing. The new ones, inner primaries, are blackish, and clearest on the right wing. There are 10 primaries in an oystercatcher; called P1 to P10, numbered from inside to the outside! So there must be two more to find! There is a visible feather that is half way grown (see it on the left wing). It must be P5. So P6 must be in between, P5 (half grown), and P7, the innermost of the old primaries. So it must be P6 that is missing because the moult proceeds from P1 to P10. P6 must recently have been shed,. A bird ringer would write 55553 10000 to summarize the moult of the 10 primary feathers, where 5 means new and 0 means old, and numbers from 1 to 4 indicate the extent of growth of individual feathers.

The bird on the right is nearly finished moult, and inspection of the peculiar shape of the end of the wing suggests that it is P9 and P10 that are growing. A ringer would write 55555 55543.

Taylyn Bate did a study of African Oystercatcher moult as one of the chapters of her MSc, with lots of the data derived from photographs like this one. You can download the whole MSc here. It’s Open Access. Taylyn estimated that African Oystercatchers take 154 days to moult their primaries, and that on average moult starts on 1 April and ends on 2 September. There is a lot of individual variation in the start and end of moult, nicely illustrated in the photograph above. 154 days is a relatively slow and leisurely moult. It more or less fills the non breeding season, finishing just in time for the birds to build some reserves so they are in good condition at the start of the breeding season.

African Sacred Ibises and Kelp Gulls

There are several breeding colonies of African Sacred Ibis dotted around the island. The astonishing thing is that they do almost all of their feeding on the mainland …

African Sacred Ibises arriving on Robben Island — *^{Photograph: Rene Navarro}*

… here is a V-shaped flock of African Sacred Ibises returning from the mainland at sunset. This is the shortest route; the coast at Milnerton is about 7 km away. The ibises presumably feed at wetlands such as Rietvlei, Intaka Island, and the multiple small wetlands that exist as a result of the winter rainfall. The energetics of flying that distance, presumably several times a day in each direction, especially when they have chicks to feed, must be impressive.

Here is one of the ibis colonies, on a section of rocky shore, just above the spring high tide mark …

African Sacred Ibises breeding on Robben Island : Bird observations on Robben Island — *^{Photograph: Achot Ginosian}*

There are Kelp Gulls, patrolling both on the edge of the ibis colony and flying over it. With the slightest lapse of concentration, the gulls sneak in and grab an ibis egg (and some nest material at the same time) …

Kelp Gull flying off with an African Sacred Ibis egg — *^{Photograph: Achot Ginosian}*

… they fly off with the egg,

Kelp Gull with the egg of an African Sacred Ibis in its bill : Bird observations on Robben Island — *^{Photograph: Achot Ginosian}*

The ibis egg is too big to swallow, so the strategy is to break the egg on a rock, and to slurp up as much of the contents as they can. It’s a bit wasteful!

The Kelp Gulls are not yet breeding on Robben Island, but are gathering in large numbers, and setting up their nesting territories. The Kelp Gull colony on the island is large, covering several kilometres just inshore of the coastline, a few 100 m wide, with nests well spaced out …

Kelp Gull in the spring flowers Bird observations on Robben Island — *^{Photograph: Les Underhill}*

By the time Kelp Gull breeding gets going, the lush green winter vegetation will be drying out, providing lots of nest material. When the oystercatchers start breeding in about November, many of the early gull breeding attempts will be at the large chick stage, but there will still be lots of nests with eggs.

Given the ease with which Kelp Gulls grab ibis eggs, it has long been thought that they are major predators of oystercatcher eggs too. But we have had to rethink that, and maybe it is only the colonial breeders that are a focus for Kelp Gull predation.

Pied Crows

There have been Pied Crows on Robben Island from time to time for many years, and we have been estimating up to 10 crows on some visits. So far, there has never been proof of breeding. However, breeding has been suspected once in the past. On the day of the count, six Pied Crows were observed, and they were all in pairs.

Here is a pair on the old World War 2 airfield, where the helicopter landing area is being upgraded.

Move in close, and you can see that they are …

Pied Crows allopreening — *^{Photograph: Les Underhill}*

… allopreening. This is part of the behaviour that develops the pair bond. Soon these two birds are likely to be breeding. Robben Island has a large population of Angulate Tortoises. The concern is that one or more of the pairs on Robben Island will discover how to turn tortoises into snacks, in the same way as a few pairs on the mainland have done. See for example this paper in Biodiversity Observations; it is Open Access and available here: How many tortoises do a pair of Pied Crows Corvus albus need to kill to feed their chicks?).

African Penguins

African Penguins have bred on Robben Island since 1984. Initially the colony was located near the northeast corner of the island, and grew to about 20,000 birds. At that stage, the penguin colony was a well defined area, and there were just a handful of arrival/departure coves along the shore. As the colony shrank (it is now less than about 10% of its maximum size), the breeding pairs dispersed across the entire island, and now penguins emerge from the sea at points almost around the entire island, A photo like the one below, African Penguins with Table Mountain in the background, was unthinkable until a few years ago!

The two penguins are an adult and a juvenile …

Adult and juvenile African Penguins : Bird observations on Robben Island — *^{Photograph: Les Underhill}*

The juvenile plumage is replaced by adult plumage at the first moult, but they mostly don’t start breeding until they are at least three years old.

So even though our purpose was to count oystercatchers, we were privileged to see other things, and make valuable observations.

The Robben Island Museum has supported these oystercatcher surveys over the past 25 years, providing logistics on the island, and transport on the ferries to and from the island.

Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus)

Posted on 01/08/2026 by Ryan Tippett

Cover image of Black-winged Kite by Mark Stanton – Pilanesberg National Park, North West

Kites belong to the family ACCIPITRIDAE (Hawks, Eagles, Vultures, Harriers, and Kites). 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 a number feeding on carrion and others feeding on fruit. The Accipitridae have a global distribution, being found on 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 Black-winged Kite is a distinctive smallish grey and white raptor with a black shoulder patch and bright red eyes.

**Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – Adult
Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga
Photo by Joanne Putter

In adults, the sexes similar in plumage coloration, however, female have less white on the forehead and above the eyes and are slightly darker on the back. Wings project beyond tail at rest; flight gull-like. Ad: Head very pale grey, forehead and supercilium white; remainder of upper parts blue-grey. Tail mostly white, contrasting with grey back; central rectrices grey. Lesser and median wing coverts black, forming black shoulder patch. Flight feathers blue-grey, tipped blackish. Underwing mostly white, with black undersides to outer primaries forming triangular black patch at wing tip. Underparts white, breast washed pale grey. Bill black; cere yellow. Eyes orange to ruby red. Legs and feet yellow.

**Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – Adult
Albert Falls Nature Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo by Colin Summersgill

Immatures resemble the adultss, but have yellowish-orange eyes; some retain juv remiges, rectrices, greater coverts and alula feathers. Juv: Similar to ad, but breast and neck washed chestnut, nape streaked white. Upper part feathers darker, pale-fringed, appearing scalloped. Flight feathers and coverts dark grey, edged buff; shoulder patch smaller, speckled white. Eyes dark grey-brown, become yellow within 3-4 wk.

At a distance, the smaller Dickinson’s Kestrel has the same pale-headed, grey-backed appearance, but has a more slender, elongated silhouette, with a barred, not plain tail that extends beyond the folded wing tips.

**Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – Adult
Lamberts Bay, Western Cape
Photo by Les Underhill

Status and Distribution

From south-western Europe and north Africa, south to South Africa. Also from India east to Papua-New Guinea. Widespread in southern Africa, but absent from very arid western areas, some forested areas of the east, and the high Drakensberg plateau.

SABAP2 distribution map for **Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – downloaded in December 2024. Details for map interpretation can be found here.

The Black-winged Kite is not threatened. Has benefited from bush clearance for agriculture and from alien trees providing nest sites in otherwise treeless habitats; seemingly unaffected by liberal use of pesticides.

**Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – Adult
Selinda, Botswana
Photo by Ryan Tippett

Habitat

The Black-winged Kite occurs in most habitats, but is most abundant in grassland and transformed fynbos. Scarce or absent from closed woodland, forest and desert, but present in arid and semi-arid areas where there are irrigated croplands.

Behaviour

Large turnover of birds in any one area, but no obvious seasonal movement patterns. Females more nomadic than males. Ringed birds have moved from southern Africa as far as Malawi and Uganda, but most remain within 50-100 km of the ringing site.

**Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – Adult
Koringberg, Western Cape
Photo by Les Underhill

Usually seen singly by day, prominently perched on vantage point or in hovering flight. Tail often wagged up and down in apparent threat, directed at conspecifics. At night, sometimes roosts in large groups (up to 300), but usually in smaller groups of 10-20. Roosts usually in reedbeds or adjacent bushes, or in large, solitary trees, dead or alive, incl palms. Individuals may gather at roost from wide area; area of 76 km² in ne S Africa contained 2 large roosts.

**Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – Adult
Midmar Nature Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo by Colin Summersgill

The Black-winged Kite usually hunts for ca 4 hr, up to 9 hr, by day and at dusk. Prey captured by still-hunting (71% of hunting time, successful strike rate 10-20%) from vantage point, or by hovering; latter more successful, but far less energy efficient. Still-hunting more efficient than hovering in terms of prey caught/energy used, but hovering allows exploitation of open habitats lacking perches. When hovering, strike success rate may increase to 20-35%, and larger prey sometimes captured. When prey seen while hovering, bird descends slowly, then raises wings and suddenly drops onto prey. When prey seen from perch, bird descends in short glide, raising wings to pounce. Captured items are taken to perch and eaten. Eats almost exclusively small diurnal mammals (97%), of which rodents 40-90 g make up ca 90%. Birds up to size of Black Crake and doves, and lizards and insects occasionally taken. Food consumed depends on whether the birds are br or not; daily intake varies between 21% and 15% of body weight, respectively.

Nomadic movements allow exploitation of rodent outbreaks.

**Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – Immature
Heidelberg, Western Cape
Photo by Terry Terblanche

Well known. Monogamous, solitary nester; territorial. Mate fidelity difficult to assess, but probably none because of nomadic movements. 1 female may breed with more than 1 male within a season; males apparently selected on basis of territory quality. Displays, accompanied by much calling, consist of aerial circling and ‘butterfly’ flights, with courtship feeding by male. Copulation takes place close to nest, with no obvious preliminary display. Strongly territorial when br; defends territory vocally and aggressively, chasing conspecifics and other, larger raptors. Numbers br in any one locality vary from year to year in areas where there are large fluctuations in prey abundance, but are relatively stable at low densities in marginal habitats.

The nest is built by both sexes, sometimes disproportionately more by female. Female may remain on nest while male brings nest material, usually carried in bill. Flimsy, saucer-shaped platform of sticks lined with dry grass and placed as high as possible in tree canopy. Most frequently in thorn trees, but also in alien trees and occasionally on man-made structures including power pylons and utility poles. Old nests are occasionally refurbished, and nest sites are sometimes used repeatedly.

The Black-winged Kite has been recorded to breed throughout the year, but most breeding coincides with the end of the rainy season when rodents are most abundant.

2 to 6 eggs are laid per clutch, and they are laid around 24 hours apart. Elliptical. Buffy, overlaid with dull brown and rusty brown splotches, spots and speckles. Markings very variable, sometimes covering almost entire surface.

**Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – Immature
Near Ladybrand, Free State
Photo by Dawie de Swardt

Incubation starts with first-laid egg. Period 30-33 days mainly by female. Male takes short shifts during the day, usually when the female is foraging. Male feeds female on nest, bringing up to 6 items per day.

Newly hatched young covered in pale brownish grey or buff down. By 30 d, perches on branch next to nest, and attempts first flight at around 35 days. Nestlings are brooded by the female, left unattended on nest. All food for nestlings provided by male, who hunts up to 1 500 m from nest; male passes food to female, who then feeds nestlings. Young defecate in nest, and a thick layer of regurgitated pellets also builds up in nest. Female remains within 200 m of nest, forages in vicinity, but seldom feeds young on her own catches. Young stays near nest for around 6 days after first flight, perching in the nest tree and returning to the nest to feed. Thereafter, makes increasingly long flights, but uses a perch near the nest. After this, disperses from nest area, but remains dependent on ads, mostly on male, for up to 82 days. This dependence period is variable and is presumably influenced by prey abundance. Ads may dive at and even strike humans climbing to nests.

**Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – Juvenile
Marievale Bird Sanctuary, Gauteng
Photo by Deon Van der Hoven

Black-winged Kites may breed several times in 1 year and not at all in the following year. Breeding failures are more common during incubation than during the nestling stage. Some mortalities due to nestlings becoming tangled in adjacent thorny branches, or falling prey to Tawny Eagles.

Further Resources

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

The use of photographs by Attie van Aarde, Dawie de Swardt, Gerald Wingate, Johan van Rooyen, John Todd, Karis Daniel, Lance Robinson, Philna de Villiers, Ryan Tippett, Salome Willemse, and Zenobia van Dyk is acknowledged.

Other common names: Black-shouldered Kite (Alt. English); Blouvalk (Afrikaans); Umdlampuku, Unongwevana (Xhosa); Élanion blanc (French); Gleitaar (German); Grijze Wouwf (Dutch); Peneireiro-cinzento (Portuguese).

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM. 2026. Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/08/01/black-winged-kite-elanus-caeruleus/

Bird identification, birding

**Black-winged Kite** *Elanus caeruleus* – Juvenile
Thabazimbi district, Limpopo
Photo by Roelof van der Breggen

Archive/Bird identification/Birds/Structured species text

Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata)

Posted on 30/07/2026 by Ryan Tippett

Cover image of Red-knobbed Coot.

Coots belong to the Family RALLIDAE. This family also includes Rails, Crakes, Swamphens, Flufftails, Gallinules, and Moorhens, etc. Their physiology is diverse, but most have laterally compressed bodies, short tails, short rounded wings and well-developed legs and feet. The bill structure is variable. Most birds in this family inhabit wetlands or forest undergrowth and are usually vocal and highly secretive.

Identification

The Red-knobbed Coot is a large and distinctive rallid and quite unlike any other southern African bird

Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata) — **Red-knobbed Coot** *Fulica cristata*
Near Stilbaai, Western Cape
Photo by Attie van Aarde

In adults, the entire body is black to dark slaty grey. The most characteristic feature is the striking, white bill and frontal shield (sometimes with a slight bluish tinge) with 2 red knobs on the head at the top of the shield. These red knobs are large when breeding, otherwise inconspicuous. The eyes are deep red and the legs and feet are greenish grey. The sexes are alike in plumage colouration; however, males are considerably larger than females.

Juveniles are dark grey-brown above, and the sides of the head, neck and flanks are dark olive-brown with off-white mottling. The chin and throat are whitish, and the remainder of the underparts are pale grey. The bill is dull grey, and the eyes are brown. The legs and feet are dark grey.

young Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata) — **Red-knobbed Coot** *Fulica cristata*
Intaka Island, Western Cape
Photo by Les Underhill

Status and Distribution

The Red Knobbed Coot has a disjunct distribution with small populations in southern Spain, northern Morocco and Algeria. It has a more continuous range from Ethiopia south through eastern and central Africa to the Cape, and a fragmented range in Madagascar. In southern Africa, it is found throughout the wetter regions and the southern and eastern Karoo. It is scarce in the northern Karoo, and mostly absent from the Kalahari and much of arid Botswana and Namibia. The Red-knobbed Coot is considered locally common to abundant in sub-Saharan Africa.

SABAP2 distribution map Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata) — SABAP2 distribution map for **Red-knobbed Coot** *Fulica cristata* – December 2024. Details for map interpretation can be found here.

The Red-knobbed Coot is not threatened. In the recent past, its population has expanded considerably in response to increased habitat provided by farm dams and other man-made impoundments. Such changes in distribution and status are especially noticeable in the Western Cape, the Karoo, and in Zimbabwe, where it is now common on artificial impoundments.

**Red-knobbed Coot** *Fulica cristata*
Garden Route National Park, Western Cape
Photo by Jean Hirons

Habitat

The Red-knobbed Coot frequents open, small to large freshwater ponds, lakes, dams, marshes, temporary pans, flood plains, sewage ponds, and occasionally rivers and tidal lagoons. It favours wetlands with emergent vegetation and pondweeds, especially when breeding. The Red-knobbed Coot occurs on more open waters when not breeding. It requires submerged aquatic vegetation for food.

Behaviour

flock of Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata) — **Red-knobbed Coot** *Fulica cristata*
Victoria West Dam, Northern Cape
Photo by Ryan Tippett

Red-knobbed Coots are gregarious, and can be found in pairs in the breeding season or sometimes in flocks of 1000 birds or more when not breeding. Part of the population is resident and sedentary, but most are nomadic, moving in response to rainfall. Permanent waters provide refuges during years of low rainfall. However, numbers fluctuate continually, regardless of rainfall, indicating movement even in dry years.

**Red-knobbed Coot** *Fulica cristata*
Strandfontein Sewage Works, Western Cape
Photo by Felicity Ellmore

The Red-knobbed Coot spends most of its time swimming and feeding on open water, but also grazes on the shoreline, running back into the water when disturbed. They are pugnacious and aggressive birds. Interactions, fights, and chases between birds take place throughout the year, but mostly during the breeding season. In chases, birds patter across the water, with wings flapping, seldom taking flight, and pitching onto their bellies when abandoning the chase. Flies strongly, with feet projecting beyond tail.

They forage either by standing in shallow water or swimming, picking items from the water surface, or by diving. Also walks on the shores of water bodies, grazing short grasses or green cultivated crops. Commonly grazes on short grass lawns around water features in parks and gardens.

The Red-knobbed Coot is primarily vegetarian, feeding on a wide range of plant material, including algae, aquatic ferns, and the stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and aerial roots of aquatic plants such as Knotweed Persicaria limbata, Torpedo Grass Panicum repens, and Fennel-leaved Pondweed Potamogeton pectinatus, etc. Red-knobbed Coots are opportunistic and also feed on varying amounts of insects, molluscs, and crustaceans as well as human food scraps and occasionally carrion. They have also been recorded eating cow dung.

**Red-knobbed Coot** *Fulica cristata*
Stanford, Western Cape
Photo by Graeme Hatley

The Red-knobbed Coot breeds throughout the year in South Africa, with 2 peaks from July to September, and again from January to March. It is a monogamous, facultative cooperative breeder. Pairs nest solitarily and are strongly territorial.

The Nest is a large, floating heap of water plants with a bowl-shaped hollow on top. It is built by both sexes, with juveniles occasionally helping out. The nest is either located in shallow, open water or anchored to vegetation in deeper water and is usually exposed. Additional nesting material is added during incubation. Red-knobbed Coots also build ‘false nests’ and rafts as resting platforms.

**Red-knobbed Coot** *Fulica cristata*
Cedarberg, Western Cape
Photo by Zenobia van Dyk

2-6 eggs are usually laid per clutch. The eggs are buffy-yellow with small purplish-brown dots. The Incubation period lasts for 18 to 25 days. Incubation is performed by both sexes, with frequent changeovers. Newly hatched young are mostly covered in greyish-black down. They are highly precocial and are able to dive soon after hatching. They are fed and cared for by both parents, sometimes with the help of juveniles from an earlier brood.

Further Resources

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

The use of photographs by Attie van Aarde, Felicity Ellmore, Graeme Hatley, Jean Hirons, Karis Daniel, Les Underhill, Ryan Tippett, Sharon Stanton, and Zenobia van Dyk is acknowledged.

Other common names: Bleshoender (Afrikaans); Unomkqayi, Unompemvana (Xhosa); Foulque caronculée, Foulque à crête (French); Kammbleßhuhn (German); Galeirão-de-crista (Portuguese); Knobbelmeerkoet (Dutch).

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

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM. 2026. Red-knobbed Coot Fulica cristata. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/07/30/red-knobbed-coot-fulica-cristata/

Bird identification, birding

Archive/Bird ringing/Birds/Citizen Science/Nuwejaars Wetlands/Trip report

Bird ringing at Nuwejaars Wetlands SMA : 14 to 19 June 2026

Posted on 24/07/2026 by Les Underhill

On 14 to 19 June 2026 we made our second visit this year to the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area, the first visit have been made in April, with blog here. On this trip, we handled 149 birds of 34 species, as detailed in the table below.

Species	Handled
Jackal Buzzard	1
Black Crake	3
Crowned Lapwing	1
Klaas’s Cuckoo	2
Barn Owl	1
Spotted Eagle Owl	1
Fiery-necked Nightjar	1
Speckled Mousebird	2
Malachite Kingfisher	1
Red-capped Lark	4
Agulhas Long-billed Lark	1
Cape Bulbul	8
Sombre Greenbul	3
Capped Wheatear	1
Cape Robin-chat	1
Cape Grassbird	1
Bar-throated Apalis	1
Grey-backed Cisticola	3
Fiscal Flycatcher	2
Cape Batis	1
African Pipit	3
Southern Fiscal	2
Southern Boubou	1
Bokmakierie	1
Pied Starling	5
Cape Sugarbird	1
Orange-breasted Sunbird	20
Southern Double-collared Sunbird	8
Cape Sparrow	5
Cape Weaver	23
Southern Masked Weaver	6
Southern Red Bishop	31
Yellow Bishop	2
Cape White-eye	2
Totals – 34 species	149 birds

Some highlights are illustrated below.

Why is Achot looking so pleased …. ??

Klaas's Cuckoo : Ringing at Nuwejaars Wetlands June 2026

… he has a Klaas’s Cuckoo in each bag, a male and a female!

Jackal Buzzard : Ringing at Nuwejaars Wetlands June 2026

We handled a Jackal Buzzard …

Agulhas Long-billed Lark : Ringing at Nuwejaars Wetlands June 2026

… and an Agulhas Long-billed Lark …

Look at the lark’s hind claw!

Capped Wheatear : Ringing at Nuwejaars Wetlands June 2026

The Capped Weaver is a beautiful bird in the hand.

We spent one morning ringing in the floodplain of the Nuwejaars River at Moddervlei.

Malachite Kingfisher headgear : Ringing at Nuwejaars Wetlands June 2026

The headgear of the Malachite Kingfisher is impressive.

Archive/Bird ringing/Birding/Birds/Citizen Science

Bird ringing at Strandfontein Sewage Works : 20 July 2026

Posted on 24/07/2026 by Les Underhill

Multiple bird ringing expeditions to the Strandfontein Sewage Works have taken place since the one described in the blog for 24 May 2026. On that trip we ringed 27 Lesser Swamp Warblers, and we thought that was amazing. Subsequently, close on 200 Lesser Swamp Warblers have been ringed at the sewage works, with a maximum of 56 on 7 July.

Lesser Swamp Warbler : Bird ringing at Strandfontein July 2026 — *Lesser Swamp Warbler*

Dieter Oschadleus is exploring lots of different ringing places at the sewage works for Lesser Swamp Warblers. The spot we chose this day was not particularly productive, and we handled only four!

We also caught a Red-knobbed Coot. Two fascinating things to look at with a coot in the hand are the red knobs, and the amazing feet:

Red knobs of Red-knobbed Coot : Bird ringing at Strandfontein July 2026

Foot of Red-knobbed Coot : Bird ringing at Strandfontein July 2026

Although we did not hit the jackpot from a bird ringing perspective (nine birds of four species), it was a great morning to be out-of-doors:

Sunrise, 20 July 2026. That’s a Yellow-billed Duck flying over Zeekoeivlei. The east face of Table Mountain is on the left and Devil’s Peak is on the right; the Saddle, in between is draped in cloud.

Spring is early, and the “nik nak lilies” are already putting on a good show. The Arum Lily Zantedeschia aethiopica is indigenous in southern Africa, but a dreadful invasive alien in many parts of the world, including Australia and New Zealand.

This excavation under the boundary fence is used by Cape Clawless Otters (see footprint) to move between Zeekoeivlei and the sewage works.

You will find a list of future bird ringing events here, and a list of past events with blogs here.