Sugarbird
Encyclopedia
The sugarbirds are a small family
, Promeropidae, of passerine
bird
s which are restricted to southern Africa
. The two species of sugarbird make up one of only two bird families restricted entirely to southern Africa, the other being the rock-jumper
s Chaetopidae. In general appearance as well as habits they resemble large long-tailed sunbird
s, but are possibly more closely related to the Australia
n honeyeater
s. They have brownish plumage, the long downcurved bill typical of passerine nectar feeders, and long tail feathers.
family, which is otherwise restricted to the Australasian region. Looking at the egg-wite proteins in the 1970s Sibley and Ahlquist mistakenly placed them with the starlings (the samples used were actually those of sunbird
s). They have also been linked to the thrushes (Turdidae) and the sunbirds. Molecular studies find support for few close relatives, and they are treated as a family at present, although it has been suggested that they form a clade with two enigmatic species in the genus Modulatrix
. These two species, from the mountains of East Africa, are usually placed in the large taxon that includes the Old World babbler
s.
southwards, except the extreme south of South Africa
, where it is replaced by the Cape Sugarbird in the Cape provinces of South Africa. It has at times been considered conspecific with Gurney's. The distribution of the Gurney's Sugarbird is disjunct, and currently there are two accepted subspecies, one in the north and one further south.
Sugarbirds are dependent on Protea
and are found in protea scrub. The Cape Sugarbird is found in Fynbos
and has also moved into gardens and nurseries.
s that weight between 26 to 46 g (0.917123014732911 to 1.6 oz) and are 23 to 44 cm (9.1 to 17.3 in) in length. Between to 15 to 38 cm (5.9 to 15 in) of that length is in their massive elongated tails, with the tails of the Cape Sugarbird being overall longer than those of the Gurney's Sugarbird. In both species the tail of the male is longer than the female, although the difference is more pronounced in the Cape Sugarbird. In overall body size the males are slightly larger
and heavier than the females. Both species have long and slender bill
s that are slightly curved, and again the females have a slightly shorter bill, leading to differences in feeding niches
. The skull and tongue morphology of the sugarbirds is very similar to that of the honeyeaters, the result of convergent evolution
. The tongue is long and protrusible, and is tubular and frilled at the end.
s of the Protea
provide most of the energy these species require, and they are considered significant pollinators of the genus. The birds' diet is supplemented by insects attracted to the inflorescences. Studies of the diets of sugarbirds found that bees in the family Apidae
and flies
formed a large part of the diet and that the insects were obtained by hawking.
The breeding behaviour and nesting habits of the two species of sugarbird are very similar. Sugarbirds are monogamous
, and male sugarbirds defend territories
during the breeding season. Females lay two eggs in a nest in a fork of a tree.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
, Promeropidae, of passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s which are restricted to southern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. The two species of sugarbird make up one of only two bird families restricted entirely to southern Africa, the other being the rock-jumper
Rock-jumper
The Rock-jumpers are medium-sized insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Chaetops, which constitutes the entire family Chaetopidae. The two species, the Rufous Rock-jumper, Chaetops frenatus, and the Drakensberg Rockjumper, Chaetops aurantius, are endemic residents of southern Africa...
s Chaetopidae. In general appearance as well as habits they resemble large long-tailed sunbird
Sunbird
The sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, but also take insects and spiders,...
s, but are possibly more closely related to the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
s. They have brownish plumage, the long downcurved bill typical of passerine nectar feeders, and long tail feathers.
Taxonomy
The relationships of the sugarbirds have been the source of considerable debate. They were first treated as a far-flung member of the honeyeaterHoneyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
family, which is otherwise restricted to the Australasian region. Looking at the egg-wite proteins in the 1970s Sibley and Ahlquist mistakenly placed them with the starlings (the samples used were actually those of sunbird
Sunbird
The sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, but also take insects and spiders,...
s). They have also been linked to the thrushes (Turdidae) and the sunbirds. Molecular studies find support for few close relatives, and they are treated as a family at present, although it has been suggested that they form a clade with two enigmatic species in the genus Modulatrix
Modulatrix
Modulatrix is a genus of bird endemic to the mountains of south eastern Africa. The genus is something of a taxonomic enigma. It has been placed with the Old World babblers and the Old World flycatchers. Recent molecular studies have suggested that the two species are part of a clade that includes...
. These two species, from the mountains of East Africa, are usually placed in the large taxon that includes the Old World babbler
Old World babbler
The Old World babblers or timaliids are a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent...
s.
Distribution and habitat
The Gurney's Sugarbird is found from ZimbabweZimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
southwards, except the extreme south of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, where it is replaced by the Cape Sugarbird in the Cape provinces of South Africa. It has at times been considered conspecific with Gurney's. The distribution of the Gurney's Sugarbird is disjunct, and currently there are two accepted subspecies, one in the north and one further south.
Sugarbirds are dependent on Protea
Protea
Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes.-Etymology:...
and are found in protea scrub. The Cape Sugarbird is found in Fynbos
Fynbos
Fynbos is the natural shrubland or heathland vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate...
and has also moved into gardens and nurseries.
Description
The two sugarbird species are medium sized passerinePasserine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
s that weight between 26 to 46 g (0.917123014732911 to 1.6 oz) and are 23 to 44 cm (9.1 to 17.3 in) in length. Between to 15 to 38 cm (5.9 to 15 in) of that length is in their massive elongated tails, with the tails of the Cape Sugarbird being overall longer than those of the Gurney's Sugarbird. In both species the tail of the male is longer than the female, although the difference is more pronounced in the Cape Sugarbird. In overall body size the males are slightly larger
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
and heavier than the females. Both species have long and slender bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
s that are slightly curved, and again the females have a slightly shorter bill, leading to differences in feeding niches
Ecological niche
In ecology, a niche is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem to each other; e.g. a dolphin could potentially be in another ecological niche from one that travels in a different pod if the members of these pods utilize significantly different food...
. The skull and tongue morphology of the sugarbirds is very similar to that of the honeyeaters, the result of convergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...
. The tongue is long and protrusible, and is tubular and frilled at the end.
Behaviour
Nectar from the inflorescenceInflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s of the Protea
Protea
Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes.-Etymology:...
provide most of the energy these species require, and they are considered significant pollinators of the genus. The birds' diet is supplemented by insects attracted to the inflorescences. Studies of the diets of sugarbirds found that bees in the family Apidae
Apidae
The Apidae are a large family of bees, comprising the common honey bees, stingless bees , carpenter bees, orchid bees, cuckoo bees, bumblebees, and various other less well-known groups...
and flies
Fly
True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...
formed a large part of the diet and that the insects were obtained by hawking.
The breeding behaviour and nesting habits of the two species of sugarbird are very similar. Sugarbirds are monogamous
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...
, and male sugarbirds defend territories
Territory (animal)
In ethology the term territory refers to any sociographical area that an animal of a particular species consistently defends against conspecifics...
during the breeding season. Females lay two eggs in a nest in a fork of a tree.
Species
- Family: Promeropidae
- Gurney's SugarbirdGurney's SugarbirdThe Gurney's Sugarbird is a species of bird in the Promeropidae family.It is found in Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe....
, Promerops gurneyi - Cape SugarbirdCape SugarbirdThe Cape Sugarbird, Promerops cafer, is one of the six bird species endemic to the Fynbos biome of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa.-Description:...
, Promerops cafer
- Gurney's Sugarbird
External links
- Sugarbird videos on the Internet Bird Collection