Orange-breasted Sunbird Anthobaphes violacea Scientific name definitions

Male 14·5–16·5 cm, 9–11·3g; female 12·5–13·5 cm, 8·6–9·7 g. Male is iridescent green on head to mantle and chin to upper breast ; back yellow-green, lesser upperwing-coverts metallic green, median and greater wing-coverts and flight-feathers brown, edged yellow-green; tail brownish-black, central pair of feathers elongated and darker, outer rectrices paler; violet breastband separating metallic green of throat from reddish-orange of upper breast and belly, yellow lower belly, pectoral tufts bright yellow; axillaries and underwing-coverts grey-brown; iris dark brown; bill and legs black. Female lacks metallic colours and elongated central rectrices, has head grey-olive, upperparts dark yellow-green, paler on rump and uppertail-coverts, tail brown, edged yellow, throat and breast dark yellow-green with some admixed grey, rest of underparts yellowish. Juvenile is like female but darker.

Western Cape and SW Eastern Cape (E to Port Elizabeth), in SW South Africa.

Nectar ; also insects, including beetles (Coleoptera), flies (Diptera), Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and Orthoptera; also spiders (Araneae). Known foodplants include 66 species of Erica, Liparia splendens, Protea lepidocarpodendron and Protea mellifera. Forages singly, in pairs and in small groups; in non-breeding season forms loose groups of 50–100 individuals. Hawks for insects; feeds also on ground.

Egg-laying in all months, with peak May–Aug (breeds in synchrony with flowering of Erica species); two or three broods. Territorial display by male, from protea or Erica bush, includes wing-stretching to reveal pectoral tufts and tail-jerking. Nest built by female alone, taking 5–18 days, an ovoid structure without porch or “beard”, 85–120 mm high, 64–90 mm wide, 75–100 mm deep, side entrance 2–4 cm wide, made of twigs, roots, Erica leaves and grass, held together by cobwebs, lined with down from protea or Eriocephalus species, occasionally adorned externally with spider cocoons and feathers, placed low down (76% below 1 m) but sometimes up to 10 m above ground in bush (e.g. protea). Clutch 1–2 eggs, colour variable, usually white, sometimes green-grey, densely spotted and streaked with grey-brown or chocolate-brown, markings concentrated at wider end; incubation by female, period 14–15 days; chicks brooded by female, fed by both sexes, male providing one-third of feeds, nestling period 15–22 days; young at least partly dependent on parents for c. 3 weeks after leaving nest. Nests parasitized by Klaas’s Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx klaas). In one study, hatching rate 65% and fledging rate of nestlings 68%.