THE speckled mousebird is a common resident along the East and South of South Africa.
Its voice is a harsh ‘zik zik’ alarm call and a contact call ‘chee chee chik chik’.
Its habitat is bushveld, tangled thickets, edges of dense vegetation, gardens and orchards, and these birds are usually gregarious, and occur in flocks of five to 20 birds.
The speckled mousebird flies fast and straight, with rapid wingbeats alternating with stiff wing glides. On landing, it crashes into a bush or tree. It hangs below its perch, foraging by clambering mouse-like about the branches.
It roosts from just before sunset and departs just after sunrise. As many as 15 birds may cluster on one branch for several minutes.
The bird dust-bathes frequently. Its food includes fruit, leaves, seeds, nectar and occasionally insects like termites.
It breeds from July to April in KZN and the nest is a large, untidy bowl of plant material lined with soft material and leaves. It is usually built between one and three metres above the ground in a bush or tree.
It lays a clutch of two to four white or cream coloured eggs, which take between 12 and 15 days to incubate. Nestlings remain for 17 to 18 days and may leave the nest after 10 days to climb about the branches.
They are fed by regurgitation and parents eat the faeces of the young.
The Zulu name is iNdlazi and in Afrikaans it is known as gevlekte muisvoel.
