This was the last time that we saw the baby Malachite Sunbird, as the parents stopped feeding her. I will show you how the baby flies from a Paradise flower to an African Protea.
I will show you here how effective the parents force their children to become self sustainable.
The parent birds don't allow their children to become dependent on them for food. So, the constant feeding by both parents was brought to an abrupt halt. No more feeding for the baby. Since the baby left the nest, the parents were deliberately showing the baby where to get food by flying around close to her to suck nectar that they fed the baby. They also caught some insects close by for the baby to see. So, it was basically a fondue teaching academy :)
But first I will show you how the baby made a last effort to get the mom to feed her. She saw the mom on a protea flower close by.
I think that the mom sat on the protea in order for the baby to come to her, as the mom wanted the baby to eat some of the flower.
Stretching time, and she kicked that right leg far out with the right wing.
Right, the baby was ready to fly, but I couldn't get her erratic flight on camera.
Two weeks on the eggs and 2 weeks for the chick to mature. Amazing isn't it?
The malachite sunbird is a small nectarivorous bird found from the highlands of Ethiopia southwards to South Africa1. The breeding male malachite sunbird, which has very long central tail feathers, is 25 cm long, and the shorter-tailed female is 15 cm long1. The female lays one to three eggs that are incubated solely by the female for around 14 days. The chicks will fledge two to three weeks after hatching but may go back to the nest for about two more weeks.
She was watching her mother on a protea flower close by.
The mom seemed to dance on the flower to draw the baby's interest.
Oh, oh, the mom saw the baby coming in. Exactly what the mom wanted.
Yay, please mommy feed me, was the baby's hopes.
Oh yes, the baby started screaming for food as you saw in the first picture, but the mom turned her back on the baby.
Shame, the mom flew away to sit at the top of a protea bud, watching what the baby was going to do.
Cruel? No, the mom forced the baby to feed itself and the next day, the baby was gone.
I am almost sure that I saw the baby one week later, as this lady sat and looked at me. She saw me a lot with my camera during the baby days.
We love the sunbirds and thankfully we have most of the sunbird species here in the western cape province. The malachite male is not a good singer, as he normally only has a once note call. He might twirl his call notes a few times, but his beauty makes up for his singing disabilities :)
A strange fact is that the malachite is the biggest of the sunbird species, and the southern double-collared is the smallest. They say the malachite is the most beautiful in color, but the smaller southern double-collared is the best singer of all the sunbird species.
I hope you have enjoyed the story and the pictures.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
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