Tchagra australis

An adaptable member of the shrike family, the Brown-crowned Tchagra occurs in a wide range of savanna and woodland associations where it forages mainly low to the ground in the undergrowth. It feeds primarily on insects and other invertebrates and only very occasionally on small reptiles.

Brown-crowned Tchagras form monogamous pairs with the male being fiercely protective of their territory. The female takes most of the responsibility for the incubation of the clutch of 2-4 eggs over a 2 week period in the spring-summer nesting season. The chicks leave the nest around two weeks after hatching but stay with the parents for 5 months or more. Healthy adults weigh approximately 33g.

The Brown-crowned Tchagra is widely distributed over much of sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa this species is found in all our provinces with the exclusion of the Eastern and Western Cape. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern.