The Southern Red Bishop Male
The Southern Red Bishop ( Euplectes orix ) is common within Southern Africa, found in marshy grasslands and wetlands, with a height of around 13 cm’s and weighing in at around 23 Grams. The Bird feeds on Seeds and insects. These birds normally build their nest over a water body and are slightly different to the Black-Winged Bishop on their Face.
Every spring they return to my garden, the male's buzzing song alerting the female to the nest he's building for her. It also has various twittering calls and a nasal contact call.
It is 10-11 centimetres long and has a thick conical bill. Breeding males are brightly-coloured with red (occasionally orange) and black plumage. The forehead, face and throat are black and the rest of the head is red. The upperparts are red apart from the brown wings and tail. The upper breast and under tail-coverts are red while the lower breast and belly are black. The non-breeding male and female have streaky brown plumage, paler below. Females are smaller than the males.
Red Bishop Female on Agapanthus
'Red Bishop' watercolour in Daily Journal - Maree©
These Red Bishops are very brightly coloured, but it looks orange rather than red. They must really stand out in your garden, making them more easy targets for cats etc.
ReplyDeleteOur little Porsche cat can not catch our goldfish cause there is a net over them, but she really is not very keen to catch just to watch, same for birds.
Hi Glennis, in the South it does look more orange than in the North, and they are very cat-wise. I don't have a cat, but I've seen him when the stray Tabby passes by, very alert.
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