Chestnut Breasted Mannikin

Description:

The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin is a thick-set brown finch with a grey crown, black face and a heavy grey bill. It has a chestnut brown breast divided from white underparts by a black bar. The rump and tail are golden orange, with a black undertail. Females are paler than males and young birds are uniformly olive-brown above, pale below with a brown-buff chest and no black face or chest bar. Like other finches, this species is a very social bird and is most often seen in flocks.

Habitat:

The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin is found in reed beds, long grasses, swamps and mangroves.

Notes:

Feeding: The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin feeds on grass seeds, usually on the stalk rather than from the ground. It will also eat winged termites at the beginning of breeding season. Breeding: The Chestnut-breasted Mannikin nests in colonies, with the nests close together in grass clumps, sugar cane or reeds, less than 2 m from the ground. The rounded nest is made from green or dried grass blades and is lined with fine grasses. It lacks an entrance tunnel but the entrance may have a hood. Both parents build the nest, incubate the eggs and feed the young, but only the female stays in the nest overnight.