Three gaping mouths for Daddy Malachite Sunbird to fill! Three!! And here is the evidence. This is such a beautiful photo. It captures so much. Every time I see one of the hard working little parents bring their hatchlings a meal I strain to count the babies. I was sure there were three but I only ever see two - with a quick flash of possibility. Until today. Three baby Malachite Sunbirds!!! And the BuckarooBabies were here to share the excitement. Homesteading is the best homeschooling classroom.
Isn't Daddy Sunbird beautiful! That green and blue shimmers in our summer sun. He is very fast. He lands so suddenly and then is gone. Mama Sunbird stays longer. Like a concerned mother she feeds then fusses and hovers over her offspring. While their gape insistently to get her attention.
For a short while after their meal is delivered two of the little beaks continue gaping. There is one that is extremely insistent. We'll just him Guts. I'm hoping it is a him. Although there are soft hints of yellow feathers. This one is the only one whose eyes are now open. The others are still closed. And their colouring remains a dark grey stripe.
It will be interesting to see which are female and which that of the beautiful green males. There are already differences in their markings. Of the two that are easy to see the one has a more grey beak and the other yellow. It is hard to imagine that the insects the parents bring are so big - and yet each hatchling swallows an entire Monarch butterfly or nasty black locust.
The Malachite Sunbird parents work tirelessly all day. I love hearing the gentle whirring of their wings. Although it is difficult to follow their movement because they are so fast. It is hard to believe that these tiny Sunbird babies will be ready to leave their nest in a week or two already! It has been such an incredible experience learning about the Malachite Sunbird from such a front row seat. A homeschooling lesson for both BuckarooBabies and their parents!
Exceptional photography being able to see into the cactus nest, and gaping mouths.
Male might steal the show in his grand display of colour still helps with feeding, good to see!
@tipu curate
I KNOW!! He is a beaut!! Although I suspect that two of the three babies are also male. Can't wait for those shots. Hopefully I am there for their first flight .....
Much larger than the little one we get, have seen this particular one up in the Drakensberg and they are stunning! Will have to do the flight of little ones should be spectacular from the view you have.... Lucky you 😌
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Professional sister nice job there x
Thank you my biggest fan. Wonder what Grandpa would've said....
Beautiful Sunbird pics and great headline, I was clicking in regardless! :OD
Thank you @meesterboom!
What an amazing capture! You are so lucky to have witnessed (and still witnessing?) them. I have never had this sunbird in my garden, but I see the Southern double-collared sunbird almost daily. What caught my mind whilst reading your post is modern gardeners' insistence to get rid of insects and so-called "pests" from their gardens. But this is the food for these babies! If we get rid of all the caterpillars and slugs and locusts, these babies will starve. In order to protect them, we need to be happy with the locust that arrives or the caterpillar that eats the rocket leaves.
Thank you @fermentedphil! It really has been an incredible experience. I'm relieved to at least get some good shots because those little birds are so fast. And my kiddos are also so busy I have to try and escape to take a quiet photo. Yes, you are so right about starving the birds if we were to eliminate all our "pests"
Oh damn, I can imagine the trouble to get a nice photograph. Yeah, they are so quick. I have my own struggles to capture them in photographs in my garden. I am not so fortunate that they make nests in my garden, but I try to provide them with ample food 😀 and your kids are so lucky to have you that appreciate like you said nature and her schoolings.
Wow! Great photos!
Thank you!
You’re welcome!
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Great stuff here and happy that you are now getting the babies.
Just before their first flight it will be sure to make for more lovely shots.
Congrats.
Very happy about that first photo. But, yes, so hoping to get the first flights on camera
I can tell you that those first flight photos are the most difficutl to get.
We had a few Double-collared births here, but I have yet to get a first flight shot. Trouble iis that when they exit the nest, they are at their most vulnerable and at times they go to ground and that's what the predators are waiting for.
Bit concerned about that. We have five cats.....I see the one little guy is already balancing on the edge
Oh yeah, an old lady that live here in the complex told me that she saw one of the house cats here with a small Double-collared sunbird in it's mouth.
So you will have to keep an eagle eye, especially very early in the mornings.
That's sad. I've been hovering more than the parents. Bad news is that it seems the third didn't make it. The nest is covered with those nasty brommers. I went to peek earlier. Had to lift my camera as high as I could but the dog leg of the nest won't allow a proper look in. Something definitely smells dead. And I'm only seeing two when the parents pop in with food. Shamepies
In all honesty, I was expecting that, as 3 mouths are really too much for them to feed. So they stopped feeding the weakest one. Most times they only have one survivor, but in this case let's hope that two will make it.
We appreciate your work and your post has been manually curated by zoology team (oscurity/nelinoeva) on behalf of Amazing Nature Community. Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much!