Newsletter / Blog
2012-08-05 Aves bird of the Week – Orange-breasted Sunbird - Anthobaphes violacea
Orange-breasted
Sunbird
The Orange-breasted Sunbird - Anthobaphes violacea - is endemic to the Fynbos habitat of Western Cape, South Africa. They
generally prefer dense stands of Protea and Erica. It also occurs in coastal
renosterveld and occasionally gardens.
Description
The Male’s head,
throat and mantle are bright metallic green. The rest of the upperparts are
olive green. The upper breast is metallic violet and the lower breast is bright
orange, fading to paler orange and yellow on the belly. The tail is long and blackish,
with elongated central tail feathers, which extend some way, belong the other
feathers.
The female has
olive-greenish grey upperparts and olive yellowish underparts, paler on the
belly. The wings and tail is blackish. The juvenile resembles the female.
The bill is long
and decurved, that of the male being longer than that of the female. The bill,
legs and feet are black. The eye is dark brown.
Call
The call is a
twangy, weak ssharaynk or sskrang, often repeated.
Food
Food consists of nectar,
insects and spiders.
Breeding
Breeds from
February to November. The nest is an oval of rootlets, fine leafy twigs and
grass, bound together with spider webs and lined with brown protea fluff. It
has a side top entrance, but does not have a covered porch. It is built by
solely by the female in about 15 to 18 days. The female lays 1 to 2 eggs, which
are incubated solely by the female for between 13 to 16 days. The chicks are
fed by both parents, on a diet of mainly arthropods. They usually leave the
nest at between 14 to 22 days, coming back to the nest to roost for 5-15 days longer.
Conservation Status – Least Concern
This species is
not seriously threatened, although it may be adversely affected by
urbanisation, habitat conversion to agriculture and the invasion of
woody-stemmed alien plants into fynbos habitat.
Birdwatching
Ask Aves Birding Tours/Safaris/Adventures
to create a tour for you or book on one of the following Aves Birding Tour/Safaris/Adventures to see these magnificent sunbirds: -
Aves Western Cape Birding
Tour / Safari / Adventure.
Aves West Coast
Birding Tour / Safari / Adventure.
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