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The Karoo scrub robin or Karoo robin is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. Its natural habitats are dry shrubland and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. This species was formerly placed in the genus Cercotrichas.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
It is 17 cm long and weighs 19 g. The upperparts are drab greyish brown; the face with a narrow, white supercilium above thin black eye-stripe. Partial whitish eye-ring below eye. Closed tail darker than rump and mantle. Upper wing coverts and flight feathers brown, underwing dull buffy brown. Bill black, eyes brown and legs as well as feet black. Song calls vary between individuals, e.g. chip, swee-chipswirraree, seeep-seeep-treeeeyer, repeated 5 – 10 times.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in September · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Rüppell's Robin-ChatCossypha semirufaIt is a smaller version of the White-browed robin-chat, measuring 18 cm rather than 20 cm, with darker, blackish central tail feathers, and in some races a more constricted supercilium behind the eye.
White-crowned ForktailEnicurus leschenaultiThe white-crowned forktail is the largest of the forktails.
Learn the Karoo Scrub Robin for real
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