Bird of the Week – Cinnamon-breasted bunting
The Zulu name is umDinasibula and Afrikaans Klipstreepkoppie.
FORMERLY called a rock bunting, the Cinnamon-breasted bunting are found from the Eastern Cape northwards as far as Eritrea and Nigeria but are absent from the Western Cape, Kalahari Basin and eastern littoral of South Africa.
This bunting is unobtrusive and best identified by its call note – a shrill ‘chip chrre erippity-peep’. Usually solitary or in pairs, it is sometimes found in small groups of three to four birds.
LISTEN:
They forage on the ground, hopping in little shuffling steps and they feed on seeds and insects. Their flight is undulating. When disturbed, they perch on a rock where they often do an about-turn or sideways shuffle.
Rock buntings are found on escarpments, eroding, stony slopes, dongas, dry watercourses and savanna.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGCFwKQBbvg/?tagged=rockbunting
Breeding season is from November to February. They lay two to four pale green or blue eggs heavily blotched with rust, dark brown and grey spots. The nest is a shallow cup of grass in a foundation of small sticks in a shallow scrape on the ground or at the base of a grass tuft.
Incubation is 12 to 14 days and nestlings remain for 14 to 16 days.
The bird’s Zulu name is umDinasibula and in Afrikaans, Klipstreepkoppie.
