can be right in your face and it will still be invisible.
We have two sunbirds on a regular basis
in our garden in the Western Cape. The
malachite sunbird with the male a glittering
green all over and the smaller sunbird
Nectarinia violacea (also refered to as
Anthobaphes violacea) where the male has a
glittering red/orange breast. The females of both
are little brown jobs. They love the nectar of the
Aloe sp. and also the Cotyledon sp.
I am not an expert in birds feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
The nest was exactly the height of my face right above the
path. I do not know if the they hatched any chicks but the
sunbirds must have spent a lot of time building the nest
without us noticing them.
It is a pity that I do not have a camera with a zoom. The birds
will think nothing of sitting right next to us when we are in the
garden, but we must not have anything in our hands. I tried
walking with the camera. Fine, they got used to it, but the
moment I lift it in their direction, they dash away.
There are more nests in the garden. The juveniles resemble the
females I guess we might have seen some without realizing they
are "our" birds.
All birds are welcome in the garden and we see to it that they get
some treats and water, but we are not into birding as such.
--------------- I had to add this September 2009.
I found this little female sunbird nesting on the other corner of the house.
The height of the nest above the ground is obvious by
the window in the background - the white is the window
pane, not the sky, with the redish window sill at the
bottom. The nest is slghtly larger than a man's fist.
Now that I know about the nest I make a small
detour around the tree, where I would normally pass
directly against that branch. It obviously did not
bother the birds in building the nest,
but I will do my share.
There are more nests in the garden. The juveniles
resemble the female I guess we might have seen some.
All birds are welcome in the garden and we see
to it that they get some treats and water,
but we are not into birding as such.
