Scientific name: Crithagra totta
The Cape siskin averages 13 cm in length. The flight feathers and tail have white spots on the tips which are diagnostic for both sexes, and especially visible in flight. The adult male has a light brown back, wing coverts, rump and upper tail and yellow underparts. The head, nape and sides of neck are yellowish grey and olive. Fine dark brown streaks are most prominent on the head and the sides of the throat. The female is similar but duller; she lacks grey on the head and has more streaking on the face and breast.
This locally common but shy and unobtrusive siskin is endemic to South Africa, specifically occurring in the Cape Fold Mountains in the Western and Eastern Cape. It generally prefers fynbos on mountains and in valleys, also occupying clearings in mountain forest patches, fringes of succulent Karoo, edges of pine plantations and village gardens.
It mainly eats seeds and buds either taken from bare patches of ground or directly from grasses and shrubs.
