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- They can often be seen flying low over the landscape in search of prey, which is primarily rodents and small birds. Their main stronghold close to Cape Town is the West Coast National Park, which has a large enough area of natural fynbos within and surrounding it to support a viable breeding population.
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Are there mousebirds in Cape Town?
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All three species of Southern Africa’s mousebird can be found in Cape Town, but the white-backed mousebird is the species I have seen the most (and in the most gardens). They have very small bodies, in comparison to their long tails, and they often clamber around in the branches of trees in a very mammal-like way.
- Callum Evans
The red-faced mousebird (Urocolius indicus) is a species of mousebird or coly. It is a common in southern Africa from the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Zambia and Tanzania south to the Cape. Its habitat is savanna with thickets, fynbos scrub, other open woodland, gardens and orchards. There are a total of five recognized ...
- Identification
- Distribution
- Habitat
- Behaviour
- Further Resources
The Red-faced Mousebird has a slaty-grey head and crest with a pale cinnamon forehead. As its name suggests, it has a distinctive red patch around its eyes which continues to the base of its bill. Its upperparts and long tail are blue-grey. The sexes are similar, but juveniles lack the crest and have a pale mask. In flight it gives a distinctive hi...
The Red-faced Mousebird occurs from southern Angola, Zambia and Malawi, through to southern Africa, where it is common in non-arid areas. The blue and green squares in the Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2) map below indicates the core of its range in South Africa.
It generally prefers is savanna habitat with thickets, fynbos scrub, open woodland, as well as gardens and orchards.
Red-faced Mousebirds are almost always found in pairs or small groups. Their diet consists mainly of fruit, supplemented with nectar, flowers, and leaves. They typically forage in groups of 3-10, landing in trees and bushes in search of food. Mousebirds love taking a sand bath! They are social birds and often engage in mutual preening. They breed t...
Species textfrom the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997. Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name). More common names: Rooiwangmuisvoël (Afrikaans); Intshili (Xhosa); umTshivovo (Zulu); Fariki (South Sotho); Rotzügel-mausvogel (German); Roodwangmuisvogel (Dutch). Recommended citation format: Loftie-Ea...
- TABLE MOUNTAIN. I usually advise birders to stay away from Table Mountain. After all, most visitors take the cable car to the windswept, sun-roasted Table Top which is pretty thin on birdlife although you’ll always see a Red-winged Starling (Onychognathus morio) – see image above.
- KIRSTENBOSCH BOTANICAL GARDENS. With dozens of indigenous habitats set against natural forest and lawns swept by flocks of Egyptian Geese (Alopochen aegyptiaca), Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris) and Cape Spurfowl (Pternistis capensis), Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens is as rewarding for the bird watcher as it is for the botanist.
- CAPE OF GOOD HOPE RESERVE. Ignore the temptation to drive straight down to Cape Point: the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve is 57 square kilometres of virtually deserted wilderness and there are excellent birding corners to explore before you marvel at the views at Cape Point itself.
- STRANDFONTEIN SEWAGE WORKS & RONDEVLEI NATURE RESERVE. Connecting the Cape Peninsula to the mountains of the Winelands, the Cape Flats is now a mostly flat and featureless expanse of housing and alien vegetation.
May 12, 2020 · Find out more about fynbos birds and Cape Town’s best birding places here. Taking over from his Orange-breasted cousin at lower altitudes is the Southern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus).
The white-backed mousebird ( Colius colius) is a large species of mousebird. It is distributed in western and central regions of southern Africa from Namibia and southern Botswana eastwards to Central Transvaal and the eastern Cape . This mousebird prefers scrubby dry habitats, such as thornveld, fynbos scrub and semi-desert.
Speckled Mousebirds are found in Eastern, Southern, and Central Africa. The Red-backed Mousebird is a resident of Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Red-faced Mousebird is common in southern Africa from Zaire, Zambia and Tanzania south to the Cape. Red-faced Mousebird.
