The second baby came out of the nest this morning and can you believe, his mom is feeding him a small butterfly!
A while ago I posted about a Sunbird mom with a moth in her mouth. Well, here's my new discovery!
The mom feeds her baby Sunbirds with small insects. I suppose it's for protein that will result in the quick growth of the babies once they are out of the nest. This one emerged hungry and I was a second too late with the shot to catch the mother with the small butterfly in her mouth (picture above).
This new little guy was full of energy!
Check this out! A one legged stretch after breakfast!
After the warm up stretch a series of preening and exercises followed! (Next 2 pictures)
And after the exercises, a well earned rest!
In the meantime, here is the other baby that I showed you yesterday. Mommy led him to the Pincushion bush to eat, but he just sat on the flower with no idea how to eat!
Imagine that? I thought Sunbirds only sip nectar from flowers for its sugar content, but here's the evidence that they are raised on insects. I suppose that as they grow that they switch over onto a nectar diet. Mother nature has so many interesting tricks up her sleeve. It makes perfect sense that they will be fed insects at birth, as insects are packed with protein. It's going to be interesting to see how they manage to eat on the Pincushion flowers.
We hope you have enjoyed the pictures and thank you for visiting a post by @papilloncharity
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Great photographs. You, obviously have taken a lot of trouble monitoring the birds in and around the best. Super
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@machv Thank you and patience are always rewarded my friend! Blessings!
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Stunning photos @papilloncharity. What a special experience. We have been blessed with a bounty of sunbirds around our Karoo home this year. Enjoy our seeding onions, blossoming fruit trees and, of course the beautiful aloe through winter
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Thank you and also for this picture of a Malachite male. They are such great birds and I love them. Blessings to you and yours in the Karoo.
Ps. For a moment here I thought this was one of my shots Lol
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Thank you for telling me what he is! I know that's a male but didn't know what species. My photos are all my own ;) but thanks for the compliment as you take lovely photos
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I did not mean to doubt, or offend at all. I have many shots of the Malachites as it's one of my favourites, so please excuse my remark. As a peace offering, here is a shot of a blue youngster before he turns green like his father! Blessings!
Ps. And just to show my care, I have now followed you!
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Oh I'm not at all offended! I apologise if I came across that way. Your photography is beautiful so it's a compliment if you think that one of my shots is yours. I'm grateful for you teaching me the names and identifications of the birds. They are really beautiful. You don't need to follow me to pacify me ;) It takes a lot to offend me. But it's easy on a social medium to misunderstand one another.
Just as an aside; you have a powerful and beautiful name. I can say that because my son has the same name. Blessings there too
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Oh my these photos are stunning, hope there's just as much birdlife in your new home! Interesting what the babies are fed, I did not know that!
Thank you for sharing @papilloncharity :)
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@lizelle Thank you and day by day we are taught new things Lady Lizelle. Nature's visual lessons appeal to all of one's senses. I also hope that wherever we find a place the birdlife will be good. Of course we can always make a garden bird friendly and I also have a dream to rig up a tunnel one day for organic vegetables. Blessings!
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As always such fabulous shots
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Thank you JJ and all of the best to you my friend!
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and to you my friend
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wow this baby Sunbird is so cute...
Beautiful photographs friend...
Thanks for support me...
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Thank you and blessings to you!
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The soft toned green is lovely when they are young, I suppose feeding insects assist in development, nothing something I knew either, thanks for sharing knowledge and beautiful bird life @papilloncharity
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@joanstewart, I think the Lord wants to move us further out Lady Joan, as there are many cheaper properties in the smaller towns. The great thing is that our distribution project spreads over the whole country and for instance when we were located in Johannesburg, we also distributed the MasterChef food donations in the Paarl area. To get back to the birds, it was mind blowing to learn that Sunbirds feed their young with insects. Today I was again amused by a little one trying to make sense of how to eat on a Pincushion flowerhead! Btw, Their baby colours are also fast disappearing! Blessings!
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