Southern Tchagra Tchagra tchagra Scientific name definitions

20–22 cm; 38–54 g. Nominate race has crown rich dark brown, broad whitish superciliary stripe , black lores and black stripe behind eye (lower eyelid feather­lets white); upperparts dull brown, rump tinged greyish; central tail feathers dark grey-brown with many, regular, narrow dark bars, remaining rectrices blackish with white tip, white increasing in size outwards to 11 mm on inner web of outermost feather, which has long white wedge along outer web; remiges, primary coverts and greater upperwing-coverts dark olive-brown, outer webs fringed bright rufous, median and lesser coverts dark rufous; ear-coverts and cheek pale grey-brown; chin and throat greyish-white, underparts grey, darker and olive-tinged on side of breast and flanks; underwing-coverts and axillaries dusky grey-brown; iris very dark brown; bill black; legs slaty or bluish-grey. Differs from very similar T. australis mainly in larger size and longer and more robust bill (bill 31 mm long, as against 21 mm). Sexes alike. Juvenile is like adult, but upperparts duller, more olive-tinged, underparts buff-tinged, supercilium and tips of tail feathers buffy, tail more pointed, lower mandible with pale base. Race caffrariae has crown chestnut-brown, superciliary stripe buffy, flanks, thighs and undertail-coverts olive-tinged, also bill 1·5 mm shorter than that of nominate; natalensis has crown redder still than previous, upperparts brighter, underparts much paler, also is slightly smaller than nominate (wing 3–5 mm shorter, bill 2·5–3 mm shorter).

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Ecotonal scrub between grassland and montane, riparian, gulley and coastal forest; dense littoral bush, edges of and clearings in coastal dune-forest, tangles of Lantana, brush piles around rural cultivation, dry Euphorbia forest and thickets of Acacia cyclops; in drier country inhabits thornveld and dense Acacia riverine scrub; locally in bracken and scrub between forest and grassland at 1100–1275 m.

Resident.

Insects, including beetles (Coleoptera), corn crickets (Orthoptera) and larvae; also berries and small molluscs. Forages on ground, where it runs and hops about, flicking over debris in manner of a Turdus thrush; also searches for food low down in dense low vegetation.

Song  of male, delivered in flight and preceded by wing-fripping, a trill followed by short stuttering, croaking notes and then loud, liquid, progressively longer whistles, usually 10–20 (but up to 30), on one pitch and seeming to decelerate as notes lengthen, "trrrrr-itititititi-tyi-tyi-tyi-tewp-tewp-tewp-tewp..."; slower version has no preliminary trill, only a few short notes and then a long series of loud even-pitched whistles, "tyio-tyi-wheeeoo-wheeeoo-wheeeoo-wheeeoo-hooee-hooee-hooee-tooiyup-tooiyup-toooiyup...". After male alights from display-flight the whistles may continue, and male often utters tearing "tzzerrr-tzzerrr" or "sskwirrr...", like calls of Dryoscopus species; similar call sometimes given by female when singing at same time as male. Common call a harsh "tschagra"; in aggressive interactions, a complex medley of purring, trilling and tearing sounds, as well as wing-fripping; alarm a searing "neeeaaa"; contact call a quiet "twet" when two individuals foraging close together, a louder harsh "tzzerrr" when farther apart.

Season Sept–Dec in KwaZulu-Natal and Aug–Mar (mainly Sept–Nov) in Western Cape and Eastern Cape; sometimes double-brooded. Advertises and defends territory by wing-fripping followed by song flight (sometimes song from perch) generally low over bushes, often circling; ascends rapidly, fripping wings, rump feathers held fluffed out, at top of ascent head held high and crest raised, then glides down with tail broadly fanned, whistling loudly, and on alighting gives harsh "chok-chok-chok" (often followed by more whistles); in intense territorial threat frips wings excitedly, fans tail, moves body jerkily, or makes slow side-to-side movements of head and body, bows, and cocks and flicks tail. Courtship little known, appears similar to territorial threatening. Nest, built probably by both sexes, a broad, shallow, thin-walled cup made of plant fibres, rootlets and twigs, lined with fine rootlets and sometimes hair; placed on twig fork, or sometimes on top of nest of another bird species, seldom more than a metre above ground and well concealed in Carissa, Rhus, Olea or Sideroxylon thicket, or often in isolated bush or small, dense and tangled solitary tree; territory c. 4 ha. Clutch 2–3 eggs, usually 2; role of sexes in incubation not known, sitting bird unusually confiding, incubation period 15·5–16 days; chicks fed by both parents, nestling period 13–15 days. Nest sometimes parasitized by Jacobin Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus).

Not globally threatened. Uncommon and local in N of range, commoner in S. In SW Cape occurs W to Hermanus and Robertson and N to Beaufort West; common in Little Karoo; fairly common in S & E Cape but sparse in Transkei and Pondoland; in KwaZulu-Natal sparse and local along coast and inland up to 600 m, N to Lebombo Mts at Ingwavuma, in Swaziland; along Drakensberg Escarpment, extending over it and into C lowveld at Eyrie and Graskop, in Mpumalanga. Reported also from Inhaca I, in extreme S Mozambique. In Tierberg drainage-line woods in E Western Cape karoo vegetation, recorded in 20% of 276–1-km transect counts. Likely to have been affected adversely by continuing destruction or modification of coastal dune-forest, but appears to have benefited considerably from spread of such exotic trees as Acacia cyclops and of woody growth encroaching on to grassland near forest, as in East London area; some evidence of expansion of range in last 30 years.