Common Garden Birds in Gordon’s Bay
Cape Bulbul
The Cape Bulbul (scientific name Pycnonotus capensis) is a very common and familiar bird in local gardens. It is endemic to the fynbos region of South Africa. The repeated call, described as a musical, liquid ‘piet-ma-jol, often announces the presence of a pair of this species when they might have otherwise been over-looked. It is a medium-sized (20 cm) dark brown bird with the head slightly darker than the underparts and grading to a pale brown lower belly. The vent (area below base of tail) is bright yellow but this is not always obvious. A conspicuous white eye-ring is a useful identification feature. It is a cheerful, noisy, lively bird which seldom drops to ground level. Fruit and nectar form the major part of its diet and it readily comes to feeder-tables and sugared-water feeders (see photo). They will readily announce the presence of a snake (or cat) with loud ‘chit-chit-chit’ calls thereby alerting other birds to the presence of an unwelcome predator. The nest, usually constructed 1-4m above ground in the fork of a bush or tree, is a shallow bowl lined with roots and grass and 2 or 3 pink speckled brown eggs are laid mostly in spring and early summer. Nests should be left strictly alone as this species will readily abandon the nest, even with eggs or chicks, if it is interfered with in any way.
Cape Weaver
The Cape Weaver (Ploceus capensis) will be familiar to most people because of its habit of building a cleverly woven nest from strips of grass and suspended from a tree (see photo) usually as part of a colony over dry ground not water. It is a medium to large bird (18cm) and the breeding male is recognized by having a brownish orange head shading to yellow underparts and yellowish-green streaked upperparts. It has a longish black beak and white or yellow eye (iris) which gives it a fierce appearance when viewed close-up. The non-breeding male and female is greyish-olive above with pale brown throat and breast shading to greyish-white over rest of underparts. Their normal diet consists of insects, seeds and nectar and they readily visit feeder tables and sugared-water feeders where they aggressively chase other birds away. The flight is fast and direct. They are particularly fond of Aloe pollen and during the flowering season (winter) will often be seen with stained red foreheads in aloe areas.
Article by: Pierre Hofmeyr
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