Areena’s Sunbirds
Posted on: September 30, 2021, in Adventure & Fun
Areena’s Sunbirds are jolly little things, enjoying the abundant flora of the resort. Attracting these chirpy little birds is easy and I love watching them. You can attract them into your gardens by installing nectar feeders. The males of the species are very colourful while the females are normally a uniform dull green, brown or grey.
Facts about Areena’s Sunbirds:
- I bet you did not know that they have a limited sense of smell therefore making full use of their great eyesight to forage for flowers. Preferring going out on singular missions, however, they will also forage in pairs or small groups where food is abundant.
- Male sunbirds chase away intruders, defending the nectar source in their given territory.
- Visiting up to 20 different plant species’ flowers in the efforts to keep up a steady stream of energy meeting their high metabolic needs. They spend much of the day flying from flower to flower for instance.
- Fast direct flight paths are achieved by their short wings.
- The long, slender curved beak is perfectly adapted for poking down into the flowers. Sucking up nectar with their long tubular tongue using a capillary action, they can extend their tongues the length of their beaks!
- 21 species of Sunbirds are in South Africa. You can see 7 species at Areena.
Spring blooms are about to be abundant, particularly with the flowering of the Coral trees. I can recommend that if you are wanting to see most of our species in a short space of time find one of these trees to spot these beautiful little birds.
The common, Greater Double-collared Sunbird male has a bright metallic head, neck and back with a broad red band on the chest and blue iridescent tail. The female’s head and upper body parts are grey-brown with the rest of the body a paler buffy brown.
Come and visit, see how many of Areena’s sunbirds you can spot and identify. Look out for the many other species of birds that frequent the resort and surrounds. Get your comprehensive bird list from the Areena Office.
