Scientific name: Crithagra leucopterus
The protea canary is 15–16 cm in length with a large pale bill. The adult has grey-brown upperparts, a black chin, white throat and two thin buff wing bars. The underparts are buff with light streaking. The sexes are similar, but young birds are more heavily streaked below than the adults. The call of the protea canary is a trilled tree-lee-loo or a sweet. The song is a loud medley of warbles and trills, with much mimicry.
It is an endemic resident breeder in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. This species is found in mature protea scrub, tangled valley thickets and forests in the mountains of the Western Cape. Generally resident and sedentary, although it makes local movements in response to fire and the flowering and fruiting patterns of fynbos plants.
It mainly eats the seeds of fynbos plants, doing most of its foraging on the ground in the foliage of shrubs and trees. It tends to be found singly or in pairs, or occasionally in small groups. It is a shy and retiring bird which stays in thick vegetation. When it flies, it soon dives back into cover.
