| Each small square indicates the observation of at least one
 Bananaquit
 
 high sweet song
 , but my
 taperecorder had difficulty recording it. If you imitate the
 sound it will come close, to chase away the intruder.
 The bird eats nectar from the flowers in gardens. It can (as
 some hummingbirds) pierce the flowers of hibiscus plants from the
 side, so 'stealing' the nectar without pollinating the plant. He
 leaves behind a small hole in the red petals. Because of this and
 because it will also, at some places, boldy pick some sugar from
 a table, it is named 'suikerdiefje' (sugar thieve) in Dutch (and
 comparable things in other languages).
 
 Each small square indicates the observation of at least one
 (group) of these birds, the medium ones at least 4 observations
 on different days and the largest ones 10 or more. The color of
 each square indicates: blue for coastal area, yellow for savanna
 and red for rainforest.
 The photo above was made by J.S. Dunning and the larger one by
 J.H. Ribot, both were made in Suriname. The photo below was made
 by D. Brunel, st. Maarten (Dutch Antilles) where it is called
 yellowbreast and has a black throat.
 |