Knysna woodpecker (Knysnaspeg)

Scientific name: Campethera notata

This species is distinguished from the other South African woodpeckers by its thickly spotted under-surface which is covered black spots from the chin to the vent. Males and females differ slightly. Males have an olive green color above with indistinct, small transverse bars and a few diamond-shaped sub-terminal spots that are a paler olive yellow. The female Knysna is similar to the male, but the black head is spotted with white and only the occiput is scarlet.The tail is olive-brown shaded with an almost green color and crossed with six bars of an almost yellow color. Its head is a gray-black color and all of the feathers on it are tipped with scarlet. The occipital crest (located at the base of the cranium) is completely bright scarlet in color.  The ear-coverts are whitish and streaked with black, while the fore parts of its cheeks are scarlet. The rest of the sides of its face and neck are yellowish white, thickly mottled with black. The underside of its body is yellowish, but white on the throat, and, as mentioned above, thickly spotted. These spots are rounded and very large on the breast, but more diamond-shaped on the abdomen.
Endemic to South Africa, occurring around the coast of the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and small parts of KwaZulu-Natal. It generally prefers thornveld, euphorbia thickets, riparian woodland, coastal White milkwood (Sideroxylon inerme) thickets and montane forests, rarely venturing into tall protea thickets and alien tree plantations.
Mainly eats ants and termites, as well as their eggs and pupae, foraging at all levels of the tree canopy. It typically works its way along branches, pecking, gleaning and probing in search of prey.

Cape batis (Kaapse bosbontrokkie)

Scientific name: Batis capensis

Male

Female

Male

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. Their rufous wings and flanks distinguish them from other Batis species in the region.

Both the male and the female will aggressively defend their territory. When larger birds of prey, animals or humans approach, the bird will often perch conspicuously near the intruder and angrily protest audibly. It eats a variety of insect prey, doing most of its foraging in the lower branches of trees or bushes, gleaning prey from leaves or bark.

Here it is locally common in eastern Zimbabwe bordering on Mozambique, south-central Zimbabwe, Limpopo Province, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. Highly adaptable, it occupies a wide range of habitats, such as Afromontane and Evergreen forest, closed woodland, valley bushveld, Acacia woodland along watercourses, plantations, orchards and gardens.

Brimstone canary, Bully canary (Dikbekkanarie)

Scientific name: Crithagra sulphuratus

The brimstone canary is 15–16 cm in length with a heavy bill, which is short, conical and very stout at the base. The bill is light brown with a pinkish or yellowish base. The legs and feet are pinkish-brown. It has yellow-green upper parts with dark green streaking, yellow-green ear coverts and malar stripe, and two yellow wing bars. The underparts are yellow, with a greenish wash on the flanks, and breast. The sexes are similar, but the male is brighter, with a bigger bill, better defined face pattern, brighter yellow wing bars and a greenish rump.
The brimstone canary can be confused with the yellow-fronted canary, but that species is smaller billed with a much more defined head pattern and a bright yellow rump.
Its fairly common in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and eastern and southern South Africa, from Limpopo Province south to KwaZulu-Natal and west to the Western Cape. It generally prefers thickets, edges and clearings in coastal forest, montane shrubland, old croplands, gardens and edges of alien tree plantations.
It mainly eats seeds and fruit supplemented with insects and nectar, doing most of its foraging on the ground and in the vegetation of trees and bushes.

Grey-backed cisticola (Grysrugtinktinkie)

Scientific name: Cisticola subruficapilla

The grey-backed cisticola is a small, 13–14 cm long, vocal, dull-coloured bird with a dark rufous crown to its reddish head. It has a rufous panel in the folded wing. The grey bill is short and straight, and the feet and legs are pinkish-brown. The southern form, "grey-backed cisticola" proper, found in southern Namibia and South Africa has a grey back heavily streaked with black. Its underparts are greyish white. Although cisticolas can be very similar in plumage, this greyish subspecies is quite distinctive. The northern subspecies has a brown back heavily streaked with black and cold buff underparts.
Near-endemic to southern Africa, occurring from South Africa through Namibia to extreme south-western Angola. It generally prefers fynbos, renosterveld and Karoo scrub, occasionally moving into thickets of alien plants, such as Jackson willow (Acacia saligna) and Rooikrans (Acacia cyclops).
It mainly eats insects, gleaning them from the undergrowth and bare soil.

Bar-throated apalis (Bandkeelkleinjantjie)

Scientific name: Apalis thoracica

The bar-throated apalis is a slender bird with a long tail and is 11 to 13 cm in length. The plumage varies depending on the subspecies: the upper parts can be grey or green while the underparts are white or pale yellow. All forms have a narrow black band across the breast, white outer tail-feathers and a pale eye. The black bill is fairly long and slender and is slightly curved. Females are similar to males but have a narrower breast band.
Pairs sing a duetting song with the female's call being higher-pitched than that of the male.
Here it is common across much of Zimbabwe, central Mozambique, south-eastern Botswana and South Africa, preferring evergreen forest, valley bushveld, woodland along drainage lines in the Karoo and scrub around sand dunes. It is occasionally found in grassland and alien tree stands and plantations.
It mainly eats invertebrates gleaned from leaves and twigs, supplemented with fruit.

Black harrier (Witkruisvleivalk, Witkruispaddavreter)

Scientific name: Circus maurus

It has a wingspan of 105–115 cm (41–45 in) and a body length of 44–50 cm (17–20 in).[2]
When perched, this bird appears all black. However, in flight a white rump and flight feathers become visible showing a striking black-and-white striped tail and silver wing panels. Its morphology is comparable to that of other harriers, with a slim body, narrow wings and a long tail. Male and female plumages are similar. Juveniles have buff under-parts and heavily spotted breasts.
Endemic to southern Africa, with the bulk of its population occurring in South Africa and Lesotho; it is more scarce in south-western Botswana and Namibia. It generally prefers fynbos in the Western Cape, especially strandveld and mountain fynbos, while elsewhere it favours Karoo scrub, cultivated land and high-altitude grassland.
It mainly eats mice and birds, doing most of its hunting on blustery days. It flies close to the ground, then speedily drops onto its prey, often giving chase on the ground before finishing the animal off.

Black crake (Swartriethaan)

Scientific name: Porzana flavirostra

The adult black crake is 19–23 cm (7.5–9.1 in) long with a short tail and long toes. As its name implies, the adult has mainly black plumage, with a brown olive tone on the wings and upperparts which is rarely detectable in the field. The eye is red, the bill is yellow (hence the flavirostra of the binomial name), and the legs and feet are red, duller when not breeding.
The sexes are similar, but the male is slightly larger. Most males, but only 10% of females, have a hooked upper mandible. The immature bird has brown upperparts and a dark grey head and underparts. Its bill is greenish yellow, and its feet and legs are dull red.
Within southern Africa it is common in northern Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip), northern and south-eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and north-eastern and southern South Africa. It generally prefers vegetation along the edge of wetlands, especially with rank grass, sedges, Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus), reedbeds with Phragmites and alien Spanish reed (Arundo donax), swamp thickets and bushes.
Omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates, plant matter and small vertebrates, such as eggs, nestlings, fish and frogs. It does most of its foraging by walking along muddy shores, plucking prey from the air, water and from aquatic vegetation.

Brown-throated martin (Afrikaanse oewerswael)

Scientific name: Riparia paludicola

The Brown-throated Martin has a height of 12 cms and weighs around 12 gms. The head is coloured brown while the bill is coloured black and it has a brown coloured throat and black legs.
The nests are at the end of tunnels of 30 to 60 cm in length, bored in sandbanks.
Here it is locally common across much of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, but particularly abundant in the Western Cape. It also has large populations in the Caprivi Strip and northern and southern Botswana; much less common in Zimbabwe, Namibia and southern Mozambique. It generally prefers rivers, open wetlands, dams, sewage works and estuaries, also foraging over land habitats, especially fynbos, karoo and grasslands.
It exclusively eats insects, doing most of its foraging in daylight, although it may feed after sunset at emergences of aquatic insects or termite alates. It forages in flocks over water bodies with with other swallows and swifts, grabbing prey from the water surface. It also aerially hawks insects over grassland or shrubland.

Spur-winged goose (Wildemakou)

Scientific name: Plectropterus gambensis

They are the largest African waterfowl and are, on average, the world's largest wild "goose", although in average weight, their size is at least rivaled by the Cape Barren goose. They are mainly black, with a white face and large white wing patches. The long legs are flesh-coloured. The male differs from the female, not only in size, but also in having a larger red facial patch extending back from the red bill, and a knob at the base of the upper mandible.
Widespread in southern Africa but absent to sporadic in semi-arid and arid regions. Can be found on virtually any internal water body and also encountered in grassland, karoo and on crop fields.
Eats mainly plant matter, either from in and around water bodies or on dry land (seedlings and grain from crop lands are a favourite, which make them unpopular with farmers) . However, they do eat insects (e.g. termite alates) and young are known to catch and eat small fish.

Greater double-collared sunbird (Groot-rooibandsuikerbekkie)

Scientific name: Cinnyris afer

The sunbird is 14 cm long. The adult male has a glossy, metallic green head, throat upper breast and back. It has a broad brilliant red band across the chest, separated from the green breast by a narrow metallic blue band. The rest of the underparts are pale grey. When displaying, yellow feather tufts can be seen on the shoulders. As with other sunbirds the bill is long and decurved. The bill, legs and feet are black. The eye is dark brown. The male can be distinguished from the similar lesser double-collared sunbird by the latter’s smaller size, narrower red chest band and shorter bill.
Endemic to South Africa and Swaziland, occurring in a band from the Limpopo Province through Mpumalanga and Swaziland to KwaZulu-Natal, down the coast to the Western and Eastern Cape. It generally prefers edges of Afromontane, coastal and dune forest, dry valley bushveld, montane tall shrublands, woodland along water courses in arid regions, Acacia savanna, parks and gardens.
It eats nectar supplemented with arthropods and fruit, probing flowers with its bill to obtain nectar, sometimes sucking juice out of fruit. It also hawks insects aerially and gleans prey from leaves and twigs, often joining mixed species aggregations at large sources of nectar.

African stonechat (Gewone bontrokkie)

Scientific name: Saxicola torquatus

The males have a black head, a white half-collar, a black back, a white rump, and a black tail; the wings are black with a large white patch on the top side of the inner wing. The upper breast is usually dark orange-red, with a sharp or gradual transition to white or pale orange on the lower breast and belly depending on subspecies. In a few, black replaces the orange breast feathers in part or entirely. Females have brown rather than black above and on the head with an indistinct paler eyebrow line, chestnut-buff rather than orange below, and less white on the wings. Both sexes' plumage is somewhat duller and streakier outside the breeding season.

It is common across much of Zimbabwe, northern Botswana,  Mozambique, South Africa and Caprivi Strip, Namibia. It generally prefers montane or open grassland (with scattered shrubs and bushes), fynbos shrubland, grassy hillsides, edges of high altitude forest, swamp edges and cultivated land.

It mainly eats insects and their larvae, supplemented with other invertebrates, lizards, fruit and seeds. It does most of its foraging from a perch, pouncing on prey on the ground and occasionally hawking insects aerially. It may also forage along rocky shores, hawking prey such as fish from perches on rocks and kelp.

Denham's bustard, Stanley's bustard (Veldpou)

Scientific name: Neotis denhami 

The male is 9 to 10 kg (20 to 22 lb) and 100–116 cm (39–46 in), the female is much smaller at 3 to 4 kg (6.6 to 8.8 lb) and 80–87 cm (31–34 in). The back is brown, darker and plainer in the male, and the underparts are white. The neck is pale grey with an orange nape. Its grey crown is bordered with black, and a black line runs through the eye with a white line forming an eyebrow above. The long legs are pale yellow. The wings are strikingly patterned in brown, white and black, the male showing more white in flight than the female or young birds. The long legs are yellowish in color and the bill is whitish horn in color. The male inflates his throat when displaying to show a conspicuous balloon of white feathers.
 In southern Africa it is locally common in southern and eastern South Africa, while scarce in northern Botswana and north-eastern Zimbabwe. It breeds in grassland and lowland fynbos, but in the non-breeding season it also strays into cultivated fields of barley, cotton and clovers. It also occurs in Nama karoo and sparse woodland.
It is omnivorous, feeding on a wide range of animals, including grasshoppers, weevils, spiders, and even snakes, as well as plant products, such as grass, leaves and flowers.

Red-billed teal (Rooibekeend)

Scientific name: Anas erythrorhyncha 

The red-billed teal is 43–48 centimetres long and has a blackish cap and nape, contrasting pale face, and bright red bill. The body plumage is a dull dark brown scalloped with white. Flight reveals that the secondary flight feathers are buff with a black stripe across them. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller than adults.
The Red-billed teal is the most common duck in South Africa. It lives in inland wetlands, artificial or natural, breeding in temporary pans and dams. It is nomadic, rapidly locating new temporary pans and vleis, rarely moving more than 250 km.
It feeds mainly on seeds, with smaller quantities of animals. It usually forages in the early morning and early evening, normally by swimming with its head submerged, picking up food as it goes a long. It also up-ends dabbles and picks animals off vegetation.

Olive woodpecker (Gryskopspeg)

Scientific name: Dendropicos griseocephalus

The Olive Woodpecker's head, bill and  throat,is coloured grey. The male has red hindcrown and nape feathers often with some fine black subterminal bars and grey bases often evident in worn plumage. The male has physical features that are slightly different from the female bird.
The Olive Woodpecker is endemic to South Africa, occurring along the escarpment and southern coast. It generally prefers evergreen forest, occasionally venturing into fynbos and suburban gardens. It forages in the upper canopies of trees, probing pecking branches, and licking them up with its barbed tongue. Both sexes excavate the nest, which is usually a oval-shaped hole in the trunk of a tree. Here it lays 2-3 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes, for roughly 15-16 days. The chicks are cared for by both parents, leaving the nest at about 24-26 days old. The juveniles return to the nest to roost for about 3 months, at which point they become fully independent.

Karoo prinia, Spotted prinia (Karoolangstertjie)

Scientific name: Prinia maculosa

The Karoo prinia has short rounded wings, a longish tail, strong legs and a short straight black bill. The head has a whitish eyebrow and the upperparts are otherwise brown. The throat and lower face are whitish with dark streaking and the rest of the underparts are yellowish white or yellow with distinct black streaking. The long tail has a dark spot near the end and is typically cocked up at an angle. The feet and legs are pinkish-brown, and the eye is dark brown. The sexes are identical, but juveniles are much yellower below than the adults and less heavily streaked.
Endemic to southern Africa, occurring from the extreme south of Namibia to the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape, extending into the Free State and Lesotho. It is common to locally very common, preferring shrubland such as fynbos, Karoo scrub and renosterveld but also occupying gardens, thickets of alien Acacia trees and strandveld.
It eats a variety of small invertebrates, gleaning them from the leaves and stems of bushes.

Southern boubou (Suidelike waterfiskaal)

Scientific name: Laniarius ferrugineus

The male southern boubou is a bird with black upperparts extending from the top of the head down to the tail, a striking white wing stripe, and a relatively long black tail with white outer feathers. The underparts are white shading to rufous on the lower belly, undertail and flanks. The bill, eyes and legs are black. The female is similar to the male, but dark grey above and with a rufous wash to the breast. Young birds are like the female, but mottled buff-brown above, have a buff wash to the wing bar, and are barred below.
Unlike the true shrikes, which perch conspicuously in the open, the southern boubou prefers to forage in dense vegetation close to the ground, a habit which has led to its being called shy
 It occupies a wide variety of woodland habitats, as well as coastal thickets, riverine scrub, alien tree plantations and suburban gardens.
Highly adaptable, it eats a variety of animals and occasionaly plants, most of which are caught on the ground. It also gleans insects off leaves and bark and occasionally hawks flying insects.

Speckled mousebird (Gevlekte muisvoël)

Scientific name: Colius striatus 

 The speckled mousebird (Colius striatus) is the largest species of mousebird, as well as one of the most common. It is well-named, because it is dull-mousy brown in overall color on the back and on the head (including a prominent crest). The bill is black on the upper part and is a pinkish color on the lower part.The speckled mousebird is not known for its voice, as songbirds are, although it is a noisy creature. They make a warbling tsu-tsu call while in flight, and are known for their tisk-tisk alarm call while in flight

The Speckled mousebird is common in South Africa and Mozambique, where it is common in suburban gardens. It is highly adaptable, and can be found in many types of habitats. It feeds on a wide variety of plant matter, especially fruit but also flowers, nectar, leaves, buds and dead bark. It usually forages in the mid to upper tree canopy, often in groups of 5-20 birds.

Hadeda ibis (Hadeda)

Scientific name: Bostrychia hagedash

The hadeda is a large (about 76 cm long), grey-to-partly brown species of ibis. It has a narrow, white, roughly horizontal stripe across its cheeks. This is sometimes called the "moustache" though it does not reach the mouth corners. The plumage over the wings has an iridescent purple sheen. The bird has blackish legs and a large grey-to-black bill with a red stripe on the upper mandible. The upper surfaces of the toes are of a similar red. The wings are powerful and broad, enabling quick take-offs and easy manoeuvring through dense tree cover.
It generally prefers open grassland with well-wooded valleys and patches of dense woodland, also occurring in clearings in forest, marshes with short grass, moist grassland, irrigated croplands with lucerne and clover (Medicago), playing fields, pastures, airfields and lawns in suburbia.

It mainly eats invertebrates, doing most of its foraging on moist ground, probing for prey or taking them from the soil surface.

Southern double-collared sunbird (Klein-rooibandsuikerbekkie)

Scientific name: Cinnyris chalybeus

The adult male has a glossy, metallic green head, throat upper breast and back. It has a brilliant red band across the chest, separated from the green breast by a narrow metallic blue band. The rest of the underparts are whitish. When displaying, yellow feather tufts can be seen on the shoulders. As with other sunbirds the bill is long and decurved. The bill, legs and feet are black. The eye is dark brown. The male can be distinguished from the similar greater double-collared sunbird by its smaller size, narrower red chest band and shorter bill.
Endemic to southern Africa, occurring from the far south of Namibia to South Africa, with the bulk of its population centered around the Western Cape.
It generally prefers fynbos and Karoo shrubland, woodland, Afromontane forest, gardens and Eucalyptus plantations.
It mainly feeds on nectar, supplemented with athropods, gleaning prey from vegetation and spider webs and hawking insects aerially.

Malachite sunbird (Jangroentjie)

Scientific name: Nectarinia famosa

The breeding male malachite sunbird, which has very long central tail feathers, is 25 cm long, and the shorter-tailed female 15 cm. The adult male is metallic green when breeding, with blackish-green wings with small yellow pectoral patches. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the male's upperparts are brown apart from the green wings and tail, the latter retaining the elongated feathers. The underparts in eclipse plumage are yellow, flecked with green.
Here it occurs along the West coast of South Africa bordering on Namibia, extending east through the Eastern Cape and Lesotho to KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Limpopo Province. It occurs in a variety of habitats, ranging from alpine and montane grasslands to scrubby hillsides in mountainous areas, as well as in arid steppes of Namaqualand, riverine thornbush, gardens, parks and alien plantations.
Its diet is mainly made up of nectar supplemented with small Arthropods. It usually forages singly or in pairs, but it may aggregate in groups of over 100 at localised food sources.