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Cape Batis (Batis capensis)


Other Names
Afrikaans: Kaapse Bosbontrokkie
Dutch: bruinflank-vliegenvanger
German: Kapschnäpper
Portuguese: Batis do Cabo
French: Pririt du Cap
Xhosa: Ingedle/Unongedle
Zulu: uDokotela/umNqube

The Cape Baits, Batis capensis, is a small passerine bird in the wattle-eye family

It is a small stout insect-eating bird, usually found in moist evergreen mountain forests and wooded gorges. The nest is a small neat cup low in a tree or bush.

The Cape Batis is strikingly patterned. The adult male has a grey crown, black eye mask and white throat. Its back is brown, with a black rump and tail and rufous wings. The underparts are white with a broad black breast band and rufous flanks. The female and juvenile plumages differ in that the breast band is narrower and rufous, not black, and there is a small rufous patch on the throat. The rufous wings and flanks are a distinction from other Batis species in the region.

The Cape Batis hunts by flycatching, or by taking prey from the ground like a shrike. The song is typically a triple whistle cherra-warra-warra or foo-foo-foo.
(Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Batis)

Seen in Golden Gate while we were doing the Echo Ravine Walking trail.