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Cinnyris talatala (White-bellied
sunbird)
[= Nectarinia talatala]
Witpenssuikerbekkie [Afrikaans]; Kalyambya (generic term for
sunbird) [Kwangali]; Dzonya, Tsodzo (both are generic names for sunbird)
[Shona]; Nwapyopyamhanya (generic term for sunbird) [Tsonga]; Senwabolôpe,
Talętalę (generic terms for sunbirds) [Tswana]; Witbuik-honingzuiger [Dutch];
Souimanga ŕ ventre blanchâtre [French]; Weißbauch-nektarvogel [German];
Beija-flor-de-barriga-branca [Portuguese]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Passeriformes
> Family: Nectariniidae
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White-bellied sunbird male. [photo
Callie de Wet ©] |
White-bellied sunbird female, Sable Hills Estate,
South Africa. [photo Trevor Hardaker ©] |
Distribution and habitat
Occurs from Angola to southern Tanzania south to southern
Africa, where it is common to locally abundant across northern Namibia, northern
and south-eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and north-eastern
South Africa. It generally prefers semi-arid savanna woodland, such as
Acacia, bushwillow (Combretum) and riparian thickets, Zambezi teak (Baikiaea
plurijuga) and mixed miombo (Brachystegia) woodland.
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Distribution of White-bellied sunbird in southern Africa,
based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas
Project (©
Animal Demography unit, University of
Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range
from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common).
See here for the latest distribution
from the SABAP2. |
Predators and parasites
It has been recorded as prey of the following mammals:
- Felis cattus (Domestic cat)
- Galerella sanguinea (Slender mongoose)
Brood parasites
It has been recorded as host of the
Klaas's cuckoo.
Food
It mainly eats nectar supplemented with arthropods, often
joining mixed-species foraging flocks in the day, along with other sunbirds at
large sources of nectar. In the late afternoon it regularly hawks insects
aerially and gleans invertebrates from foliage. The following food items have
been recorded in its diet:
- Nectar
- Leonotis (wild dagga)
- Tecoma capensis (Cape honeysuckle)
- Combretum mossambicense (Knobbly climbing bushwillow)
- Combretum paniculatum (Forest burning-bush combretum)
- Aloe
- A. arborescens (Krantz aloe)
- A. cameronii (Ruwari aloe)
- A. chabaudii (Chabaudi's aloe)
- Dalbergia nitidula (Purplewood flat-bean)
- Hibiscus
- Erythrina (coral-trees)
- Cordyla africana (Wild mango)
- Schotia (boer-beans)
- Strelitzia
- Salvia
- Bauhinia
- Protea
- Kigelia africana (Sausage-tree)
- Watsonia
- Kniphofia (torch lilies)
- Agapanthus
- Grewia (raisins)
- Loranthaceae (mistletoes)
- alien plants
- Brunsfelia
- Canna
- Callistemon viminalis (Weeping bottlebrush)
- Cestrum (inkberries)
- Eucalyptus
- Jacaranda mimosifolia (Jacaranda)
- Ipomaea lobata (morning glory)
- Euphorbia pulcherrima (Poinsettias)
- Tecoma (South American species)
- Tithonia rotundifolia (Red sunflower)
- Arthropods
Breeding
- The nest (see image below) is built solely by the female in about 5-8
days, consisting of an untidy oval-shaped structure made of dry material
such as grass and leaves, bound together with spider web. The outside is
decorated with bits of leaves and bark, while the interior is thickly lined
with plant down, sometimes along with feathers and wool. It is typically
attached to the branches or thorns of a plant, such as a Queen-of-the-night
cactus (Cereus jamacaru), prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia) or a
tree, sometimes alongside active paper wasp (Belanogaster) nests.
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White-bellied sunbird female at its nest with chicks, Modimolle, South Africa. [photo Warwick Tarboton ©] |
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- Egg-laying season is from June-March, peaking from September-December.
- It lays 1-3 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for 13-14
days.
- The chicks are brooded solely by the female but fed by both parents,
leaving the nest after about 14-15 days, after which they continue to roost
at the nest for about 4-14 more days.
Threats
Not threatened, in fact it seems to have benefited from the
fragmentation and disturbance of miombo (Bracystegia) woodland in
Zimbabwe.
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts - Birds of
southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book
Fund, Cape Town.
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