The protea canary (''Crithagra leucoptera''), also known as the protea seedeater, white-winged seedeater or Layard's seedeater, is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where the ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Taxonomy

The protea canary was formerly placed in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Serinus ''Serinus'' is a genus of small birds in the finch family Fringillidae found in West Asia, Europe and Africa. The birds usually have some yellow in their plumage. The genus was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch. Its n ...

'' but phylogenetic analysis of

mitochondrial A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used ...

and nuclear DNA sequences found that the genus was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. The genus was therefore split and a number of species including the protea canary were moved to the resurrected genus ''

Crithagra ''Crithagra'' is a genus of small passerine birds in the finch family (Fringillidae). They live in Africa and Arabia. The species in this genus were formerly assigned to the genus '' Serinus'', but phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial and nucl ...

''.

Description

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.

Distribution and habitat

It is an endemic resident breeder in the

Western Cape Province The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabi ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. This species is found in mature

protea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). It is the type genus of the Proteaceae family. About 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mo ...

scrub, tangled valley thickets and forests in the mountains of the Western Cape Province. Its range does not reach the coast.

Behaviour

The protea canary builds an open

cup nest A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American robin or Eurasian bl ...

from thin stems and other plant material and lined with plant down. It is placed in a dense bush. The protea canary is less gregarious than other canaries. 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. It feeds on seeds, (particularly those of proteas, '' Othonna amplericaules'' and '' Rhus anarcardia'') and some fruit, nectar and shoots. Insects are occasionally eaten.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, ''SASOL Birds of Southern Africa'' (Struik 2002) * Clement, Harris and Davis, ''Finches and Sparrows'' by

External links

Species text
- ''The Atlas of Southern African Birds'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q27075848 protea canary Endemic birds of South Africa protea canary