Capped Wheatear

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Capped Wheatear at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Rocherpan Nature Reserve, De Hoop Nature Reserve, Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve and Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Capped Wheatear is most recorded in Western Cape (58% of records), Northern Cape (14% of records), Gauteng (14% of records), based on 1,511 iNaturalist observations. 40 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Capped Wheatear on site or nearby.

The Capped Wheatear is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park: Aug-Oct, flowers, Mar-May; Rocherpan Nature Reserve: Winter and spring for birds and flowers, Jun-Oct; De Hoop Nature Reserve: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The capped wheatear (Oenanthe pileata) is a small insectivorous passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae.