Animalia Life
Sylvietta rufescens
SUBFAMILY
Sylviinae
TAXONOMY
Sylvietta rufescens Vieillot, 1817.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Cape crombec; French: Crombec а long bec; German:
Langschnabelsylvietta; Spanish: Sylvieta de Pico Largo.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
3.9–4.7 in (10–12 cm); 0.3–0.8 oz (8–23 g). Small, nearly tailless
bird with brownish gray upperparts, breast and flanks
buffy, throat and belly white. Black eyeline surmounted by a
light eyeline.
DISTRIBUTION
Endemic resident in Southern Africa.
HABITAT
Thick brush, Acacia scrub, open and secondary woodland, often
in drier areas.
BEHAVIOR
Solitary or in pairs or family groups. Song a high, variable series
of trilled notes. Territorial. Flight bouncy.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Insects, ticks and grass seeds. Forages methodically from bottom
to top of bushes and trees. Often joins mixed-species foraging
parties.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Monogamous. Nest is large, hanging bag of grasses, spider
webs, and plant fibers, close to ground and attached to the
lower limbs of a tree, often an acacia. One to three eggs incubated
for two weeks; nestlings fed by both parents for two
weeks before leaving.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
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