Bronze Mannikin ( Spermestes cucullatus, family: Estrildidae)

bronze mannikin kruger national park birds The Bronze Mannikin (Latin name Spermestes cucullatus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 857 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 1065 also a picture of the Bronze Mannikin on page 1057. The Bronze Mannikin belongs to the family of birds classified as Estrildidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Bronze Mannikin is also known by these other names: Bronzewing, Bronze-winged Mannikin, Hooded Finch.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Bronze Mannikin 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 Bronze Mannikin is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

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

Kruger Park Bronze MannikinIdentification 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 Bronze Mannikin is an extremely small bird about half the size of a house sparrow. The height of the Bronze Mannikin is about 10 cms and its weight is about 10 gms

The male and female Bronze Mannikin have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is black.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is black.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are brown.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Bronze Mannikin feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Bronze Mannikin is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Spermestes cucullatus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Bronze Mannikin is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 8

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Bronze Mannikin are: woodlands and grasslands

You will normally see the Bronze Mannikin in pairs or flocks and not as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Ingxenge/Ungxenge

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Gewone Fret

German ... Kleinelsterchen

Portuguese ... Freirinha-bronzeada

French ... Capucin nonnette

Dutch ... Gewoon Ekstertje

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 ... 857

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