The Cape white-eye is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. It is native to southern Africa. It is commonly found in suburbia, parks and gardens, besides a variety of mesic to well-watered habitats.
Region
Southern Africa
Typical Environment
Occurs widely across mesic parts of South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini, with local presence in adjacent regions. It favors gardens, parks, forest edges, thickets, coastal scrub, riparian vegetation, and fynbos. It avoids the most arid deserts but is common wherever shrubs and trees provide cover and foraging. The species adapts well to human-altered landscapes and often thrives in suburban areas.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 2200 m
Climate Zone
Subtropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
Cape white-eyes are energetic gleaners that forage in small, chatty flocks and readily visit suburban gardens. They feed on insects, fruit, and nectar, acting as both pollinators and seed dispersers. Their bold white eye-ring is a hallmark of the white-eye family and makes them easy to recognize. They build neat, cup-shaped nests suspended in shrubs or small trees.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with quick, bounding hops between shrubs and trees
Social Behavior
Often travels in pairs or small, noisy flocks outside the breeding season. Pairs are monogamous during breeding and build a small cup nest suspended in shrubs. They show cooperative foraging and frequent allopreening within flocks.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A thin, tinkling warble interspersed with high-pitched trills and chips. Contact calls are soft, rapid ‘tsee-tsee’ notes given continuously as flocks forage.
Plumage
Olive-green upperparts with a yellow throat and vent, greyish to whitish underparts, and a neat, compact appearance. Feathers are smooth with a slight sheen on the head and mantle.
Diet
Takes small insects, spiders, and other arthropods by gleaning from leaves and twigs. Also consumes soft fruits and berries, and regularly sips nectar from flowers such as aloes. It may visit garden feeders for sugar water or fruit. By feeding on nectar and fruit, it contributes to pollination and seed dispersal.
Preferred Environment
Forages in foliage of shrubs, hedges, and tree canopies, frequently at edges and in gardens. Often moves methodically through vegetation, occasionally sallying short distances to snatch flying insects.
