Alternative name: Green Twinspot
- Mandingoa nitidula
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.
Distribution
Forested parts of sub-Saharan Africa
Western Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi
Southern Africa: Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal and eSwatini
African Islands: Gulf of Guinea Islands: Bioko (Fernando Po)
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Mandingoa nitidula has four subspecies:1
- M. n. schlegeli
- Sierra Leone to Angola, Zaire, and Uganda.
- M. n. virginiae
- 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.
Habitat
Dense bush and forest.
Behaviour
Often silent and easily overlooked.
Diet
Forages for seeds, fruit and insects, usually on the ground or low vegetation, in pairs or parties of up to 10.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Fry H, Keith S,Woodcook M & Willis I. 2004. Birds of Africa Vol VII: Sparrows to Buntings. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0713665319
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Green-backed Twinspot. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 6 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Green-backed_Twinspot
