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The black-headed canary (''Serinus alario'') is a species of
The Damara canary (''Serinus leucolaema'') is often considered to be a subspecies of the black-headed canary. The male of that form has a strikingly different head pattern, with a white
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1302446
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 ...
found in Lesotho
Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...
, Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
and South Africa. It is sometimes placed in the genus ''Alario'' as ''Alario alario''
Its habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
is dry open scrub and grassland, the edges of cultivation and suburban gardens.
Description
The black-headed canary is 12–15 cm in length. The adult male has rich brown upper parts and tail, a white hind collar, and mainly white underparts. The head and central breast are solidly black. The adult female is similar, but has a dull grey head, and is dark-streaked on the head and upper parts. It has a rich brown wing bar. The juvenile resembles the female, but is paler and has streaking on the breast and a weaker wing bar.
The Damara canary (''Serinus leucolaema'') is often considered to be a subspecies of the black-headed canary. The male of that form has a strikingly different head pattern, with a white supercilium
The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...
, and a white throat and foreneck with a black moustachial stripe. The black of the central breast is therefore separate from the black of the head.
Behaviour
The Damara canary is a common and gregarious seed-eater, forming flocks of up to 200 birds. Its call is a low ''tseett'', and the male's song is a jumble of unmusical notes.References
* Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, ''SASOL Birds of Southern Africa'' (Struik 2002) * Clement, Harris and Davis, ''Finches and Sparrows''External links
* Black-headed canary â€Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1302446
black-headed canary
The black-headed canary (''Serinus alario'') is a species of finch found in Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. It is sometimes placed in the genus ''Alario'' as ''Alario alario''
Its habitat is dry open scrub and grassland, the edges of cultivat ...
Birds of Southern Africa
black-headed canary
The black-headed canary (''Serinus alario'') is a species of finch found in Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. It is sometimes placed in the genus ''Alario'' as ''Alario alario''
Its habitat is dry open scrub and grassland, the edges of cultivat ...
black-headed canary
The black-headed canary (''Serinus alario'') is a species of finch found in Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. It is sometimes placed in the genus ''Alario'' as ''Alario alario''
Its habitat is dry open scrub and grassland, the edges of cultivat ...
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot