Green Twinspot ( Mandingoa nitidula, family: Estrildidae)

green twinspot kruger national park birds The Green Twinspot (Latin name Mandingoa nitidula) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 835 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 1045 also a picture of the Green Twinspot on page 1056. The Green Twinspot belongs to the family of birds classified as Estrildidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Green Twinspot is also known by these other names: Green-backed Twinspot.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Green Twinspot was called the

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Green Twinspot is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Green Twinspot in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Green Twinspot : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Green Twinspot is an extremely small bird about half the size of a house sparrow. The height of the Green Twinspot is about 11 cms and its weight is about 10 gms

You will find that the male Green Twinspot plumage and colours are different to that of the female Green Twinspot

  • Head is green.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is red.
  • Throat is green.
  • Back is green.
  • Legs are brown.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Green Twinspot feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly

Invertebrates

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Green Twinspot is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Mandingoa nitidula will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Green Twinspot is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 4 to 6

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Green Twinspot are: woodlands and grasslands . The Green Twinspot is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You can see Green Twinspot in flocks. The bird will often also be seen singly.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Groenkolpensie

German ... Grner Tropfenastrild

Portuguese ... Pintadinha-verde

French ... Sngali vert

Dutch ... Groene Druppelastrild

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 835

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za