Breeding of Buff-streaked Chat, including an eyewitness account of nestling predation by Rinkhals

Abstract

This note reports on observations at three nests of the Buff-streaked Chat Campicoloides bifasciata made between September 2016 and January 2017 in the conservancy bordering Clarens, eastern Free State, South Africa. Besides witnessing a Rinkhals Hemachatus haemachatus predating Buff-streaked Chat nestling, we also take the opportunity to report on apparently unusual nest sites for this species, and what appears to be the first record of the incubation period.