Hummingbirds in South Africa?
Leah Beckman
I think this is sort of a suburb of Pretoria. I was thinking of getting my
father-in-law a hummingbird feeder, but I wasn't sure if there were any
hummers there to attract! Alternatively, is there some other species of
bird there that might be attracted to that kind of feeder?
Thanks for any information.
Leah
PS He's already got a nice feeder for seed so that's why I'm looking for something
else.
hle...@sara.cc.utu.fi
No, there are no hummers in Africa, Europe of Asia. They are found only
in the Americas.
But, an hummer feeder may attract other nectar feeding birds (such as sunbirds?)
I think it wouldn't hurt to experience with setting up a hummingbird feeder
anywhere in the (sub)tropics. It may turn out quite interesting, but it may
be frustrating too if nothing turns up.
Harry Lehto
Piikkio, Finland
hle...@sara.utu.fi
Dave Cooper
Harry et al,
I grew up in Northern Rhodesia (Kitwe) in the country now called
Zambia.
As a young boy I would roam the local African bush almost every day
there, looking for birds and animals. There were birds that I saw that
I considered humming-birds. Whether these are true humming-birds or
not, I don't know --- not my forte. But I remember the incredible
irridescent colours and the buzzing, hovering, tiny little birds that
would come into our garden, feeding on the nectar-rich flowers such as
the honeysuckle plants that grew in profusion.
If there are no humming-birds in Africa, who can identify these
birds?
BTW: They had long, slightly curved beaks. Once I even found an injured
one, and held it in my hand for a few hours feeding it some sugar
water from a spoon before it recovered and flew away high into the
African sky...
Cheers
DAVE
Don Baccus
>As a young boy I would roam the local African bush almost every day
>there, looking for birds and animals. There were birds that I saw that
>I considered humming-birds. Whether these are true humming-birds or
>not, I don't know --- not my forte.
Hummingbirds are north american, only. What you are referring to are,
I think, sunbirds. So named because of their brilliancy, I believe.
I am NOT an african bird expert so could be wrong about sunbirds.
But, I know hummingbirds are a north american family.
Now, your sunbirds (if that they are) might feed at a hummingbird
feeder...
Daan Sandee
|>
|> Hummingbirds are north american, only. What you are referring to are,
|> I think, sunbirds. So named because of their brilliancy, I believe.
|> I am NOT an african bird expert so could be wrong about sunbirds.
|>
|> But, I know hummingbirds are a north american family.
Actually, more hummingbirds are SOUTH American. But there are no humming-
birds except in the New World, that's true.
Daan Sandee san...@think.com
Thinking Machines Corporation
1010 El Camino Real, Suite 310
Menlo Park, CA 94025 (415) 329-9300
Jeffrey A. Del Col
In a previous article, san...@Think.COM (Daan Sandee) says:
>
>Actually, more hummingbirds are SOUTH American. But there are no humming-
>birds except in the New World, that's true.
Hummers occur throughout the Americas and the islands of the Caribbean.
There are no hummers in the Old World, but sunbirds are very hummer-like.
The Cleveland Zoo used to exhibit hummers and sunbirds in the same
enclosure.
J. Del Col
--
Jeff Del Col * "If you listen to music by Beethoven a lot,
A-B College * you will never become stupid--unless you already
Philippi, WV * are, in which case there's still no harm in it."
* -----Uncle Borgel---(AKA Pinkwater)
Andrew Taylor
Dave Cooper <da...@autodesk.com> wrote:
>If there are no humming-birds in Africa, who can identify these
>birds?
These are Sunbirds. The family is also found in the Middle East, Asia
and Australia (1 species in the north). I remember on my first day in Africa
finding a flowering tree with 4 species of Sunbirds coming into feed.
Some Bronze Sunbirds were attempting to chase other Sunbirds from the
nectar source just as some Honeyeaters do and I'm told some humingbirds do.
As you say many of the Sunbirds are very beautiful - the most strikingly
coloured bird I've ever seen is the Regal Sunbird.
Andrew Taylor
Don Baccus
>In article <97...@verdix.verdix.com>, do...@verdix.com (Don Baccus) writes:
>|>
>|> Hummingbirds are north american, only. What you are referring to are,
Oops! Earlier, I'd e-mailed the first questioner a statement telling
him hummers were in the americas only. In public I'm still chewin'
my boot from sticking my foot in my mouth...
Given there are more or less 150 or so species in Venzuela alone, your are
most certainly correct!
Mr Ronald Uken
>Newsgroups: rec.birds
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>From: and...@watson.ibm.com (Andrew Taylor)
>Subject: Re: Hummingbirds in South Africa?
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>Date: Sat, 1 Jan 1994 16:20:40 GMT
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>Andrew Taylor
More on Sunbirds in South Africa,
Southern Africa (includes the area to the south of the Zambezi River, ie
Zimbabwe, Namibia and southern Mozambique) has 21 species of Sunbirds. 16
of theses occur within the borders of South Africa. Most of them prefer the
moister, more tropical eastern part of the country. Many people also refer
to them as honeysuckers. They are generally very active, noisy, colourful
and conspicuous, often singing loudly from treetops. They tend to hover
briefly at flowers feeding from nectar and as mentioned by Andrew Taylor
constantly fighting for dominance over a flowering bush or tree. When they
hover, they do so without the humming sound that Hummingbirds are known
for. Many of the Sunbirds also eat insects, and are often seen gleaming the
leaf canopies and catching insects on the wing. I have never seen anyone
with feeders for Sunbirds. The best way to attract them is to plant a
variety of preferably indigenous flowering shubs and aloes in the garden.
By the way,
Do all Hummingbirds make a humming sound, and do some of them also feed on
insects?
Ron
amhen...@gmail.com
yvan...@gmail.com
jmcquown
> I had a humming bird in my garden this morning in Limpopo, it was so small I almost thougt it was a bee, I could not believe my eyes, my son also saw it and immediately told me is a humming bird, when I searched on google I saw it was indeed.
>
Jill in Southern South Carolina, USA