The Cape siskin is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is an endemic resident breeder in the southern Cape Province of South Africa.
Region
Southwestern South Africa
Typical Environment
Occurs mainly in the Western Cape and adjacent southwestern Eastern Cape, especially along the Cape Fold Mountains. Prefers natural fynbos and heathy coastal or montane scrub with abundant proteas, ericas, and restios. It also uses rocky slopes, gullies, and riparian thickets, and may venture into nearby gardens abutting natural habitat. Outside the breeding season it ranges locally in small flocks across suitable shrublands.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
The Cape siskin is a small finch of South Africa’s fynbos, where it forages nimbly among proteas and restios. It is one of two siskins endemic to South Africa, alongside the Drakensberg siskin. Pairs are often discreet in dense shrubs during breeding but form small, chatty flocks outside the season. Its thin, tinkling trills can carry surprisingly far over windy mountain slopes.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with undulating flight
Social Behavior
Usually seen in pairs or small family parties, forming looser flocks outside the breeding season. Nests are neat cups placed low in dense shrubs, and pairs are thought to be largely monogamous. Both parents feed the young, and flocks sometimes associate with other small seed-eaters while foraging.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A thin, tinkling series of trills and twitters delivered from a shrub or during a brief song flight. Contact calls are soft, high chips that help keep small groups together in dense vegetation.
Plumage
Overall warm brown to olive-brown with fine, diffuse streaking; paler buff underparts and slightly darker, plain wings. Subtle pale eyebrow and faint mottling on the breast; plumage blends well with fynbos vegetation.
Diet
Primarily seeds from fynbos plants including restios, ericas, and proteas. Also takes buds, small fruits, and green plant matter when available. During breeding it supplements with small insects and other invertebrates for added protein.
Preferred Environment
Forages low in shrubs and among seed heads, gleaning and picking from stems, and occasionally on the ground along paths and rocky patches. Often feeds in small parties that move steadily through fynbos stands.
