The rockjumpers are medium-sized insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Chaetops, which constitutes the entire family Chaetopidae. The two species, the Cape rockjumper, Chaetops frenatus, and the Drakensberg rockjumper, Chaetops aurantius, are endemic residents of southern Africa. The Cape rockjumper is a resident of the West Cape and south-west East Cape, and the orange-breasted (or Drakensberg) rockjumper is distributed in the Lesotho Highlands and areas surrounding them in South Africa. The two rockjumpers have been treated as separate species but differ in size and plumage. The ranges do not overlap, but come close to doing so.
Also found in the mountain of a small town Middelburg in the eastern Cape where they are protected because they are endangered species.
Taxonomy and systematics
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 members of a basal group of oscines within the infraorder Passeri along with their sister-family the rockfowl (Picatharthidae),
Their Latin names derive from descriptions of their appearance. "Frenatus" refers to the "bridled" or black-and-white head pattern, while "Aurantius" refers to the orange coloration.
Description
These are small birds with mostly black, white, and red plumage. Both species have long, white-tipped black tails, black throats, broad white submoustachial lines and eyebrows, rufous or orange bellies and rumps, and grey and black patterned backs and wings. Females have a similar pattern to males, but duller. Insects are the major part of the diet, although small vertebrates are reported to be taken by Cape rockjumpers. Nests are built out of grass on the ground (in contrast to rockfowl, which build mud nests in colonies). The clutch size is two eggs for the Cape rockjumper and two or three eggs for the Drakensberg rockjumper.