Cape Canary ( Serinus canicollis, family: Fringillidae)

cape canary kruger national park birds The Cape Canary (Latin name Serinus canicollis) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 872 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 1116 also a picture of the Cape Canary on page 1136. The Cape Canary belongs to the family of birds classified as Fringillidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Cape Canary is also known by these other names: Yellow-crowned Canary, Grey-necked Serin.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Cape Canary was called the

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Cape Canary is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Cape Canary in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Cape Canary : see above distribution map.

Kruger Park Cape CanaryIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Cape Canary is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Cape Canary is about 14 cms and its weight is about 15 gms

You will find that the male Cape Canary plumage and colours are different to that of the female Cape Canary

  • Head is yellow.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is grey.
  • Throat is grey.
  • Back is yellow.
  • Legs are pink.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Cape Canary feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Cape Canary is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Serinus canicollis will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Cape Canary is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are green in colour and number between 1 to 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Cape Canary are: woodlands and grasslands

You will not see Cape Canary in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Umlonji

Zulu ... umZwilili

Afrikaans ...Kaapse Kanarie

German ... Gelbscheitelgirlitz

Portuguese ... Canrio-de-nuca-cinzenta

French ... Serin du Cap

Dutch ... Geelkruinkanarie

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 872

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za