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Promerops gurneyi (Gurney's
sugarbird)
Rooiborssuikervoël [Afrikaans]; Gurney-suikervogel
[Dutch]; Promérops de Gurney [French]; Gurneys honigfresser [German];
Papa-açúcar de Gurney [Portuguese]
Life
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Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
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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: Promeropidae
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Gurney's sugarbird, Sani Pass from South Africa to
Lesotho. [photo Trevor Hardaker ©] |
Gurney's sugarbird, Cavern Resort, Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. [photo Alan Manson
©] |
For information about this species, see
www.birdforum.net/opus/Promerops_gurneyi Distribution and habitat
Endemic to southern Africa, occurring in Zimbabwe's eastern
highlands and Limpopo Province extending into Mpumalanga, with a separate
population in western KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho and the far east of the Eastern
Cape. It generally prefers montane habitats with Aloe, Protea and
Strelitzia, also occupying Protea farms; its distribution is
strongly linked to that of the Silver protea (Protea roupelliae).
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Distribution of Gurney's sugarbird 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. |
Food
It mainly feeds on nectar (especially of Protea
species), supplemented with arthropods gleaned from flowers and hawked aerially;
in one study it spent 8% of it foraging time catching prey, increasing to 18% in
the breeding season when it feeds arthropods to the chicks. The following food items have been recorded
in its diet:
- Nectar
- Protea
- Erythrina (coral-trees)
- Greyia (bottlebrushes)
- Halleria lucida (Tree-fuchsia)
- Kniphofia (torch lilies)
- Leonotis (wild daggas)
- Leucosidia sericea (Oldwood)
- Leucospermum (pincushions)
- Buddleja (sagewoods)
- Faurea (beechwoods)
- Watsonia (watsonias)
- alien plants
- Callistemon viminalis (Bottlebrush)
- Eucalyptus
- Arthropods
Breeding
- The nest (see image below) is built solely by the female in about 5-15
days, consisting of a shallow cup made of rootlets, twigs and bark fibres,
lined with grass and the brown fluff and seeds of proteas. It is typically
placed in a fork, between branches or at the base of an inflorescence with
branches below it, usually in Silver protea (Protea roupelliae) but
also Common protea (Protea caffra) and cultivated proteas on flower
farms.
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Gurney's sugarbird nest with chicks, Dullstroom,
South Africa. [photo Warwick Tarboton ©] |
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- Egg-laying season coincides with the flowering of proteas and is almost
year-round, mainly peaking from September-February.
- It lays 1-2 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about
16-28 days.
- The chicks are fed by both parents on a diet of mainly insects, leaving
the nest after about 19-23 days and becoming fully independent roughly 20
days later.
Threats
Not threatened, although destruction of protea-savanna
habitats is cause for concern, although it has benefitted greatly from protea
farming. However control measures might be implemented as it damages the
flowers, causing farmers to lose income.
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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