THE Kalahari robin-chat is found throughout the Kalahari Desert and northern Namibia, hence the name.
As with all robins, they have a lively, sustained song of mixed musical and harsh notes, each being repeated two to eight times.
They sing from a low concealed perch, mostly in the morning and evening.
They prefer open scrub and acacia savanna on Kalahari sands, usually with bare ground. There they find their food source of insects, spiders, centipedes and small fruit.
Kalahari robins are solitary or in pairs, they run fast on the ground, stopping now and then. They flick their tail between runs and often droop their wings.
Breeding takes place from September to December. The nest is an untidy cup of coarse grass lined with finer grass and hair, usually in a low bush, tree or grasstuft.
This robin lays two to four white eggs speckled with red or brown dots. The incubation and nesting periods are unrecorded.
The Tswana name is phene and in Afrikaans, Kalahariwipstert.
Next week, look out for a column about the Heuglin’s robin.
