Bananaquit

Coereba flaveola

Photo by Leon Bojarczuk (Flickr)

Common name:

bananaquit (en); cambacica (pt); sucrier à ventre jaune (fr); reinita (es); zuckervogel (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Coerebidae

Range:

This species is found throughout South America, from northern Argentina north to Central America into southern Mexico. They also found in the Caribbean islands with the exception of Cuba.

Size:

The bananaquit is 9,5-11cm long and weighs 9 g.

Habitat:

These birds are found in a wide range of habitats, from open fields, areas of cover, to dense, humid rainforests, and even in certain desert areas. They are most common in lowland areas but can be found up to an altitude of 2.000 m.

Diet:

The banaquit mostly eats nectar and pierces fruits for their juices. They sometimes supplements their diet with small insects and spiders, which they gleans from the vegetation.

Breeding:

They can breed all year round and produce 2-3 broods per year. The nest is a compact globe with a round doorway facing obliquely downward, built using varied vegetable materials, often with much green moss, softly lined with seed down, fine fibres or feathers. The female lays 2-3 white-cream eggs which she incubates alone for 12-14 days. The chicks fledge 2-3 weeks ater hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has an extremely large breeding range and a global population of 5-50 million individuals. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.