THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

human inhabited areas.
Description: Small, short-tailed and -legged
bird, length about 10 cm, weight 4 grams. Both
male and female plumage on chest, belly and
upper rump are bright yellow, back and head
are dark gray accenting a striking wide, white
eyebrow stripe and throat. Bill is black, short
and slender, and slightly decurved.
Diet: Primarily nectar feeders, bananaquits
seek small flowers for nectar and use sharp
bill to pierce larger ones when its bill cannot
otherwise reach the nectar. They also suck
juices of berries and ripe fruits and nibble
on bananas. Feeds in pairs or solo, short
strong legs and feet allow acrobatic postures
to probe or pierce flowers for nectar, even
feeding upside down. They also pick bark for
small insects. They readily join mixed flocks
of tanagers, honeycreepers and warblers at
feeders.
Reproduction and Development: Both
parents, but often primarily the male, build a
brooding nest and also several roosting nests.
Nest is a compact globe of leaves and plant
fibre, lined with seed down, moss, and feathers.
The round entry doorway faces down (to
discourage snakes). Nest is usually 10 -50 feet
up. Two eggs are brown-spotted white, which
the female incubates 12–13 days. Both parents
feed young regurgitated food for 17–19 days.
Their period of incubation and feeding young
are unique, as is the shape of their nest and
the building of adjacent “dormitory” nests,
where they roost or sleep when not actively
incubating. They also have an exceptionally
long breeding season, lasting all year except
from March to May, and often raise three
broods.
Mortallity/Longevity: Like other small
passerines, vulnerable to hawks, snakes.
Remarks: Banaquits have adapted well to
human impact on the environment. They are
highly sociable and common in inhabited
areas, mixing with other species at feeders
and in gardens and farm areas. People enjoy
their acrobatic stances to get nectar. Unlike
suspended hummingbirds, bananaquits
must get nectar as they grasp twigs. Like
some other small, sharp-billed birds such as
honeycreepers, they pierce the base of large
flowers to get nectar their short bills cannot
California Academy of Sciences
reach, thus thwarting the pollination strategy
of the flowers.
They communicate with sharp, piercing ‘tsip,’
and have no melodious song.
Their period of incubation and feeding young
are unique, as is the shape of their nest and
the building of adjacent “dormitory” nests,
where they roost or sleep when not actively
incubating. They also have an exceptionally
long breeding season, lasting all year except
from March to May, and often raise three
broods.
Taxonomically, they have recently become
the only remaining genus in their family, now
considered unique, but that may change again,
as som experts place them in the Thraupidae,
the tanager family.
CLASS MAMMALIA
(MAMMALS)
ORDER CHIROPTERA
(BATS)
Dog-faced Fruit Bat
Cynopterus brachyotis (Pteropodidae)
Fruit Bats
Distribution: Southeast Asia including
Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
southern Myanmar, Thailand, southern China,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Borneo.
Habitat: Tropical forests and open country.
Roost in caves, deserted mines, under the eaves
of buildings, occasionally in hollow trees.
Appearance: Wingspan to ~45 cm; weight to
~100 g. Pelage is dense and variable in color,
but typically olive-brown. Prominent, almost
tubular nostrils. The upper lip is divided by a
vertical groove.
Diet: Fruits of many plants, including palms,
figs, guavas, plantains, mangoes, chinaberries
and, occasionally, flowers. Subsist primarily on
fruit juice, little pulp ingested. May travel more
than 100 km in one night to feed.
Reproduction and Development: Gestation
~120 days. Mothers carry their single offspring
during the early part of its life.
Mortality/Longevity: Sold in markets in
northern Thailand as “medicine.” Eaten in
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