The Cape Rock-thrush is a regular, in some places, daily visitor to Rooiels gardens. It is endemic to South-Africa.
DESCRIPTION
They have a rufous-orange upper breast and brown back. Most distinctly, the male has a bright blue-grey head, while that of the female is brown and the face streaked with black. The juveniles are all mottled, trying to be individualistic, but they do conform later.
DIET
We have recorded the thrushes eating insects, invertebrates, berries, seeds, termites, beetles, ants, centipedes, roaches, worms, moths, butterflies, millipedes, tiny frogs, skinks and baby blue-headed agamas. It would take a bite off some of your plants and get the nectar from your aloes.
Distribution: Endemic to South-Africa. In Rooiels they can be seen on cliffs, in the mountains and everywhere in the village. They often perch on rooftops or pergolas.
HABIT
The Cape rock-thrush has a beautiful mellow song, but can also give a harsh alarm call, sometimes even a rattling sound when seeing a boomslang or mongoose.
BREEDING
The Cape rock-thrust is monogamous (has one partner). The male is aggressively territorial. They nest in crevices or on a ledge on a low cliff. You might be lucky to have a nest under the eaves of your house.
Incubation takes 14-16 days and then the hard work starts to feed the chicks. After about 10 days the fledglings leave the nest, fly from tree to bush and screams for food. During the next 14 days the parents hunt and feed from sunrise to after sunset. The teenagers then left the territory to fend for themselves. We noticed the female was getting very thin and looked rather scraggly during a post-breeding moult, but after 30 days she looked good again. The male always looked good. Nature can be so cruel.
SOURCE:
ROBERTS BIRD GUIDE 2