From Opus

Photo of female by rudydbn
Mkhuze Game Reserve KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Photo of male by sekororo
Aventura Blydepoort, South Africa

Alternative name: Green Twinspot

Mandingoa nitidula

[edit] Identification

Small (10-11 cm), with short tail. Green with white-spotted black belly. Face patch is red in the male and yellow in the female.

[edit] Distribution

Forested parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

[edit] Taxonomy

Mandingoa nitidula has four subspecies:¹

• M. n. schlegeli

• Sierra Leone to Angola, Zaire, and Uganda.

• M. n. virginiae

• Bioko.

• M. n. chubbi

• Southern Ethiopia to north-eastern Zambia, northern Malawi and northern Mozambique.

• M. n. nitidula

• Zaire, north-western Zambia, southern Malawi and northern and central Mozambique to South Africa.

[edit] Habitat

Dense bush and forest.

[edit] Behaviour

Forages for seeds, fruit and insects, usually on the ground or low vegetation, in pairs or parties of up to 10. Often silent and easily overlooked.

[edit] References

1. Fry H, Keith S,Woodcook M & Willis I. 2004. Birds of Africa Vol VII: Sparrows to Buntings. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0713665319

[edit] External Links