Brimstone Canary

Common resident. A thickset, heavy-billed species. Southern birds (a) mainly dull olive-green with dark-streaked upper parts; northern birds (b) much paler, more yellow and smaller; other races between these extremes. Race (b) differs from (3a) in lack of white edges to wing coverts, plus dark crown extending to base of bill. Immature is duller than adult. Song slower, huskier, less tuneful than other canaries. Occurs singly, in pairs or in small flocks in various bushy habitats including hillsides, kloofs, forest fringes, bracken-briar patches and riverside thickets.