We had an unusual surprise one morning, right in front of Kigongo Bay Resort, a flock of greater flamingos, floating on the calm surface of the ocean. A quick rub of the eyes and yes, they were still there. Around 40 of these large bright pink birds were forming a raft in the bay.
Sunbird Diet
Posted by Karl on Tue October 4, 2022 in Kijongo Bay Bird Life.
Did you know that sunbirds are omnivorous?
A sunbirds' diet is made up primarily of nectar, around 95%. They will, however, sometimes eat fruit and arthropods (insects and spiders).
Sunbirds need to feed almost continually during the day to meet their high metabolic needs..
Supplements
As a young or immature sunbird, insects and spiders are very important due to the protein that is used for growth. Up to fledging, a sunbird chick is fed almost exclusively on insects, including spiders and stingless bees.
Stingless bees and hive
Sunbirds are important for the pollination of many flowers and especially tubular shaped flowers. Butterflies, bees and most insects are not able to reach the nectar in the lower areas of these flowers.
Sunbird tongues are tubular and covered with bristles to aid with nectar extraction. Sunbirds suck nectar from flowers.
Not only do spiders play an important role as a protein source, but most sunbirds also use spiders web to hold their tiny cup or purse like nest together.
Differences between humming birds and sunbirds
Are humming birds and sunbirds the same?
A hummingbird hovers while feeding, a sunbird perches.
A hummingbird licks the nectar from a flower. A sunbird sucks nectar from a flower.
A hummingbird is found in the New World and a sunbird is Old World, they are found on different continents.
These photos, were fortuitously taken at Kijongo Bay Resort, by being in the right place at the right time.
Please bear in mind that this bird is only 10 cm from the tip of its beak to the end of its tail. This puts into perspective of the size of the spider!
Further Reading
Greater Flamingos visit Kijongo
Fri January 20, 2023
Read This Article
Dawn chorus and why birds sing?
Tue June 21, 2022
Read This Article
When visiting Kijongo Bay Beach Resort, one of the things our guests often comment on, is our incredible dawn chorus. Having well established gardens, with most of our bushes and trees being indigenous, we attract a lot of birds to Kijongo. This dawn chorus can range between subtle to loud, starting just before sunrise, to around a half hour after the sun rises. Bird song is a thing of beauty from the...
More Garden Birds
Sun April 3, 2022
Read This Article
With the different seasons bringing different flowers and fruit, the birds in Kijongo's gardens are forever changing. Not only do we have our seasonal visitors, we also have our resident population of birds. The morning wake up call is special at Kijongo, with a cacophony of bird song, not a lot can beat that morning coffee accompanied by natures alarm clock. At the moment we will only post birds we are able...
Share This Post