The Cape canary (''Serinus canicollis'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. It is a resident breeder in southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and has been introduced to

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

and

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

. Its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

, grassland and gardens, preferably in highland areas. It builds a compact cup nest in a scrub. The Cape canary is 11–13 cm in length. The adult male has a green back with black edging to the wing feathers wings and tail. The underparts, rump and tail sides are yellow, and the lower belly is white. The rear head and neck are grey, and the face is cinnamon. The female is similar, but with less grey on the head. The juvenile has greenish-yellow underparts with heavy brown streaking. This species is easily distinguished from the

yellow-fronted canary The yellow-fronted canary (''Crithagra mozambica'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is sometimes known in aviculture as the green singing finch. The yellow-fronted canary was formerly placed in the genus '' Serinus'', but phy ...

by its lack of black face markings. The Cape canary is a common and gregarious seed-eater. Its call is ''tsit-it-it'', and the song is warbled goldfinch-like trills and whistles given in display flight or from a high perch.

Phylogeny

This species is phylogeneticagy included within the group of ''

Serinus alario The black-headed canary (''Serinus alario'') is a species of finch found in Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. It is sometimes placed in the genus ''Alario'' as ''Alario alario'' Its habitat is dry open scrub and grassland, the edges of cultiva ...

'' now thriving around the southern tip of Africa, together with ''

Serinus syriacus The Syrian serin (''Serinus syriacus'') is a brightly coloured small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. Description The Syrian serin is prettily coloured with bright yellow and pale grey feathers. The eyes are large and are surro ...

'' (Asian distribution and Asian and African patches in winter) and ''

Serinus pusillus The red-fronted serin or fire-fronted serin (''Serinus pusillus'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It prefers high mountain regions and is 11–12 cm long. This bird breeds in the Caucasus and the higher mounta ...

'' (Asian distribution
Arnaiz-Villena et al., 1999

Subspecies

Arranged alphabetically.''Serinus canicollis''
ITIS Standard Report *Cape canary (''S. c. canicollis'') (Swainson, 1838) * ''S. c. griseitergum'' Clancey, 1967 *Kivu canary (''S. c. sassii'') Neumann, 1922 The East African subspecies (''S. c. flavivertex'') is very distinctive, much brighter, and with a yellow head, lacking the grey colour. It is now usually given species status as the

yellow-crowned canary The yellow-crowned canary (''Serinus flavivertex'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is a resident breeder in eastern Africa. It was formerly considered conspecific with the Cape canary (''Serinus canicollis''). Its habitat ...

(''S. flavivertex'').

Gallery

Image:Cape Canary RWD.jpg, left,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

File:Cape Canaries.jpg, Four in a tree,

References

* Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey, and Warwick Tarboton, ''SASOL Birds of Southern Africa'' (Struik 2002) * Clement, Harris and Davis, ''Finches and Sparrows'' by

External links

* Cape canary
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African BirdsAlso a renowned mens lifestyle brand of India selling shirtsHandbook of the birds of the world alive
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1061889

Cape canary The Cape canary (''Serinus canicollis'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is a resident breeder in southern Africa and has been introduced to Mauritius and Réunion. Its habitat is fynbos, grassland and gardens, preferably in ...

Birds of Southern Africa