The Swee Waxbill - Estrilda melanotis – is a Southern African Endemic. It is a common and tame bird typically seen in small parties, and does not form large flocks. It generally prefers edges of montane and coastal forest, wooded valleys in fynbos, bushy hillsides, grassy clearings in woodland, plantations and gardens.

Description

It has a grey head and breast, pale yellow belly, olive back and wings, red lower back and rump, and a black tail. The upper mandible is black and the lower red. The male has a black face, but the female's face is grey. Juveniles are much duller than the female and have an all-black bill.

Call

The contact call is a soft swee, swee. Song, a nasal, musical yet very soft whistled notes.

Food

They forage on ground or more often, directly from plants. It mainly eats seeds taken directly from grasses, supplemented with insects caught on the ground and in vegetation.

Breeding

The breeding season is from October to April.  A monogamous, solitary nester. The nest is built by both sexes and normally placed in a tree, bush or creeper. Three to nine eggs are laid, which are incubated by both sexes for between 12 to 13 days. The young are fed by both parents, leaving the nest after about 19 to 22 days. They become fully independent in about 15 to 19 days.

Conservation Status – Least Concern

The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats. Not threatened, although illegal capture for cage-bird trade is cause for concern.

Birdwatching

Edges of Afromontane and coastal forest; also alien plantations, gardens, bushy hillsides, farmyards, thick streamside bush, wooded valleys in fynbos and grassy clearings in moist woodland [

Swee Waxbill Birding Hotspots

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

Harold Porter Botanical Gardens

To see these beautiful waxbills contact Aves Birding Tours