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Satara, August 2008.

Lovely little bird and I remember a few years back we always had them in our garden and if one listened carefully to the call, every now and then could hear them mimicking the local fish Eagles call.

Hi everyone I just got back from the coast, and saw some lovely birds. There are a few i have identified, but not sure if they are correctly identified


Red capped robin-chat??

Thanks

Red-Capped Robin-chat, yes.

Our place in St Lucia also has a resident... but it is notoriously difficult to photograph! Always in the shadows, always on the move!


Large view

Cossypha natalensis used to be called Natal Robin. Its whistling sounds remarkably like a human and a person can sometimes coax it into a whistling duet.

Seen along the Natal Coastal forest in July, 2008

We found this little robin at the Thulasihleka pan in the Richards Bay Harbour and Lagoon area. We also found some at the Rafia Palm Monument in Mtunzini

If you have a close look at the legs and feet of this bird you will notice nasty-looking growths and some mutation of the feet. I caught it for ringing purposes and it was only one of a few robin-chats so afflicted, some worse, some just in the starting phase.



Large size

Although it can happen to any bird mostly ground-dwelling birds suffer this ailment, their habit of scratching around in litter that may contain the mites exposing them to infestation. Scaly leg mites are responsible for the growths (Knemidocoptes mutans) that can lead to loss of toes and sometimes even limbs. Badly affected birds will loose condition and eventually die of malnutrition. The mites are microscopic relatives of ticks. They spend their complete life cycle under the skin of birds.

Johan,
Very interesting facts, thank you! I photographed this Robin at Itala Game Reserve in 2008. We also noticed the growths... Interesting to it on the same bird species..