Yellow Crowned Canary

*Unfortunately Crowned…*

About a month ago, I saw this bird for the very first time. Just outside the Broadbill Forest Camp gate, it was flying high, making noise, and andulating it’s way to the apex of the tallest tree around. Perched, it was way too high for Judith, Labour and I to make out what exactly it was.

So I pulled out my camera and just took the best photo I could take for us to ask Mr Emmy Gongo about it when we got back to class. He took one look at my terrible photo and told us it was the Yellow-crowned canary (Serinus flavivertex)

For a while now, I’ve been hearing it flying over the place where I stay very early in the morning heading for it’s tree-top perches. So you can imagine my surprised joy when a saw this one perched in a garden as I walked by. It’s a less than satisfactory image, but I’m excited about it still.

Here are some facts about this canary:

1. Its natural habitat is fynbos, grassland and gardens, prefering highland areas between 1600 and 4300m asl.

2. It’s part of the finch family and a gregarious seedeater as the conical bill may already have suggested.

3. It’s Monogamous. One male, one female, for life.

4. It’s a Solitary nester. The word ‘Alone’ for it is pronounced as “All One.”

5. It’s Territorial too.

6. Nest built mostly by female.

7. The nest is a compact cup nest in a scrub.