Rock-jumper
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C. frenatus |
The Rock-jumpers are medium-sized insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Chaetops, which constitutes the entire family Chaetopidae.
Originally, these birds were placed in the thrushes, and they have also been placed with the Old World warblers and the babblers, but recent DNA studies indicate these birds are actually primitive passerines most closely related to the rockfowl (Picatharthidae), a family in which they are sometimes placed.[1]
These are small birds with mostly brown and red plumage. Their wings are very small and they do not fly very often. They spend most of their lives running and jumping among rocks and grasses while hunting insects.
They are monogamous and pairs live separately from others, building nests out of grass on the ground (in contrast to rockfowl, which build mud nests in colonies).[1]
The two species, the Rufous Rock-jumper, Chaetops frenatus, and the Orange-breasted Rock-jumper, Chaetops aurantius, are endemic residents of southern Africa.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Thompson, Hazell S. (2003). "Rockjumpers and Rockfowl", in Christopher Perrins (Ed.): Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Firefly Books, 515. ISBN 1-55297-777-3.
