ROBINS are the bird that symbolise the festive season so this is a series of five for you to enjoy.
Although called the Cape robin, they are common and distributed over most of South Africa except adjacent to Mozambique and parts of the Northern Cape.
WATCH:
Usually solitary or in pairs, the birds mostly keep to dense undergrowth. When foraging on the open edge of thickets, they will hop on the ground. The flight is jerky, flicking their wings and tail when airborne.
Cape robins sing from a perch, sometimes the top of a tree or bush. The song is two to 10 sweet, clear notes likened to someone reading a shopping list. They imitate over 20 other bird calls and their alarm call is a harsh, low three-syllabled call ‘wa-deda’.
LISTEN:
Food preferences are insects, spiders, worms, small frogs, lizards and fruit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbizXNlDHmq/?tagged=caperobinchat
Breeding season is mainly October and November. The nest is a coarse foundation of dead leaves, moss, grass, bark, and twigs lined with fine hair or rootlets. Two to three pale pinkish eggs are laid. Incubation is 14 to 18 days and nestlings remain for the same period.
The Zulu name is ugaga and in Afrikaans, gewone Janfrederik.
Look out for next week’s column about the whitethroated robin-chat.
