The Cape sugarbird (''Promerops cafer'') is one of the eight bird species
endemic to the
Fynbos
Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...
biome of the
Western Cape and
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.
The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
provinces of
South Africa.
Description
The Cape sugarbird is a grey-brown bird that is easily recognisable by a spot of yellow under its tail and the very long tail feathers present in males. The male is 34–44 cm long, and the shorter-tailed, shorter-billed, and paler breasted female 25–29 cm long. Another characteristic of the Cape sugarbird is the sound it makes when it flies. The main flight feathers are arranged in such a way that when the bird beats its wings, a ''frrt-frrt'' sound is made with the intention of attracting females.
Distribution and status
The Cape sugarbird is distributed throughout most of the fire driven ecosystem of the Fynbos in South Africa, the dominant vegetation type of the
Cape Floral Region where there are flowering
proteas and
ericas. It is most common in areas that have not burnt recently, and almost absent from recently burnt areas.
[Lee, A.T.K, Altwegg, R. & Barnard, P. 2017. Estimating conservation metrics from atlas data: the case of southern African endemic birds. Bird Conservation International.] It is also found in gardens in summer when most proteas are not in flower, but urban birds are associated with greater stress measures. With a large population and extensive range,
the Cape sugarbird is evaluated as Least Concern on the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Behaviour
Food and feeding
The Cape sugarbird is a specialist nectar feeder when it comes to feeding off
Proteaceae
The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...
. Its long, sharp beak is used to reach the
nectar
Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...
of a variety of species of protea with its long brush-tipped tongue. The staple diet of this
sugarbird
The sugarbirds are a small genus, ''Promerops'', and family, Promeropidae, of passerine birds, restricted to southern Africa. In general appearance and habits, they resemble large, long-tailed sunbirds, but are possibly more closely related to ...
is nectar; however, it will also eat spiders and insects. The characteristic strong winds in the
Cape may make feeding off protea heads difficult, but the Cape sugarbird has adapted to this with the development of sharp claws. If they become hungry they could resort to eating their own kind.
[
]
Breeding
The breeding season for the Cape sugarbird is winter when food supplies are ample.[ Breeding males set up territories in mature stands of Protea bushes, where they perform vocal displays.][Lee, A.T.K. & Barnard, P; Hockey, P. 2015. Population metrics for fynbos birds, South Africa: densities, and detection and capture rates from a Mediterranean-type ecosystem. Ostrich. 86(1-2). 179-186.]
Gallery
File:Cape sugarbird.jpg, Cape sugarbird
File:Promerops cafer 2.jpg, Female in South Africa
File:Promerops cafer 4.jpg, Male drinking nectar from a ''Protea cynaroides'' in South Africa
References
External links
*
* Cape sugarbird
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1002569
Promerops
Endemic birds of South Africa
Birds described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus