The Protea Canary, Serinus leucopterus, (also known as the Protea Seedeater, White-winged Seedeater or Layard’s Seedeater) is a small passerine

Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

 bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 in the finch

Finch

The true finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. They are predominantly seed-eating songbirds. Most are native to the Northern Hemisphere, but one subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics, one to the Hawaiian Islands, and one subfamily – monotypic at genus level – is found...

 family

Family

In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...

.

Distribution and habitat

It is an endemic resident breeder in the southwestern Cape Province

Cape Province

The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. This species is found in mature protea

Protea

Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes.-Etymology:...

 scrub, tangled valley thickets and forests in the mountains of southwestern Cape Province. Its range does not reach the coast.

Description

The Protea Canary is 15–16 cm in length with a large pale bill. The adult has grey-brown upperparts, a black chin, white throat and two thin buff wing bars. The underparts are buff with light streaking. The sexes are similar, but young birds are more heavily streaked below than the adults.

The call of the Protea Canary is a trilled tree-lee-loo or a sweet. The song is a loud medley of warbles and trills, with much mimicry.

Behaviour

The Protea Canary builds an open cup nest from thin stems and other plant material and lined with plant down. It is placed in a dense bush.

The Protea Canary is less gregarious than other canaries. It tends to be found singly or in pairs, or occasionally in small groups. It is a shy and retiring bird which stays in thick vegetation. When it flies, it soon dives back into cover. It feeds on seeds, (particularly those of proteas, Othonna amplericaules

Othonna

Othonna is a genus of evergreen or deciduous geophytes, dwarf succulents or shrubs belonging to the sunflower family Asteraceae. The genus includes more than 100 species concentrated in the Western Cape of South Africa and southern Namibia. A few species occur in summer rainfall parts of southern...

and Rhus anarcardia

Sumac

Sumac is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America....

) and some fruit, nectar and shoots. Insects are occasionally eaten.