Yellow-throated Petronia ( Petronia superciliaris, family: Passeridae)
Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Yellow-throated Sparrow
The Yellow-throated Petronia (Latin name Petronia superciliaris) is
described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird
has a unique Roberts number of 805 and you will find a full description
of this bird on page 1088 also a picture of the Yellow-throated Petronia
on page 1009. The Yellow-throated Petronia belongs to the family of
birds classified as Passeridae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick
Institute of African Ornithology the Yellow-throated Petronia is also
known by these other names: African Yellow-throated Sparrow.
In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Yellow-throated Petronia was called the Yellow-throated Sparrow
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 Yellow-throated Petronia is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident
In terms of distribution of the Yellow-throated Petronia in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Yellow-throated Petronia : see above distribution map.
The Yellow-throated Petronia.
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 Yellow-throated Petronia is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Yellow-throated Petronia is about 15 cms and its weight is about 24 gms
The male and female Yellow-throated Petronia have the same plumage and colours
- Head is brown.
- Eye is brown.
- Bill is grey.
- Throat is white.
- Back is brown.
- Legs are brown.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The Yellow-throated Petronia feeds on the ground mainly
Invertebrates
Seeds
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Yellow-throated Petronia takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).
The nesting habit of Yellow-throated Petronia is to create the nest in a hole in a tree trunk. The bird lays eggs which are green in colour and number between 2 to 5
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Yellow-throated Petronia are: woodlands
You will not see Yellow-throated Petronia in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Unknown
Zulu ... Unknown
Afrikaans ...Geelvlekmossie
German ... Gelbkehlsperling
Portuguese ... Pardal-de-garganta-amarela
French ... Moineau brid
Dutch ... Kaapse Rotsmus
First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list
For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 805
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
