Scarlet-chested Sunbird (Chalcomitra senegalensis)
This bird is fairly wide spread and can be found in southern Mauritania and Guinea to Ethiopia and south to northern Namibia and north-eastern South Africa.
These birds are 13-15 cm long and have a wingspan of 25-30 cm. They weigh 10-14 g.
(Photo courtesy of Victor Lourens, my Grandson who would never be able to stop me showing his photos,,, he’s still learning..)
(These are my photos… only the top one is his)
They feed on the nectar of various flowers, but show some preference for large red blooms. They also eat spiders and insects such as grubs, ants, termite alate, caterpillars, crickets, leafhoppers, beetles and flies.
They breed all year round, they are monogamous solitary nesters and the female builds the nest alone. (Male Chauvinistic Pig) The nest is a suspended oval or pear-shaped structure, made of grasses, dead leaves, plant down and spider webs, decorated with seeds, leaves, strings, feathers and even pieces of paper. It is suspended from the tip of a branch, 2-10 m above the ground. There the female lays 1-3 cream, greenish or pinkish eggs with darker markings, which she incubates alone for 13-15 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 15-20 days after hatching.
The Photographic Journey of bulldog. 