Miombo Double-collared Sunbird
I couldn’t help but notice a female Miombo Double-collared Sunbird Cinnyris manoensis flying around our garden in a nest-building frenzy in early August. Her amazing work rate illustrated her commitment to ensuring her genes were represented in the next generation.
She flitted back and forth, gathering nest material in our well-watered and densely vegetated garden while the colourful male did very little by comparison, but was always in attendance. He kept an eye on the nest’s construction, inspected it when it was nearing completion and helped feed the chicks once they had hatched.
The female started building the nest in early August and in three months built four different nests, raising two clutches of chicks. All the nests were situated in cycads.
This story is from the March/April 2018 edition of African Birdlife.
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This story is from the March/April 2018 edition of African Birdlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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