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Bananaquits
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Length: 4-5 inch
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Weight: 16-19g
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Food: They entertain guests at breakfast by alighting
on tables to steal sugar.
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A honeycreeper commonly found throughout the Caribbean
and parts of Central and South America. It has many
local names including Paw Paw bird, Marley Quit, Bessie
Coban, Yellow See-see, Gusanero, and Sucrier.
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The Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) is a common resident of most of
the Caribbean area and has even strayed to south Florida on occasion.
The species varies in appearance from one area to another with individuals
showing both a pale and a dark throat depending upon the area. Completely
black colored Bananaquits occur on the islands of Grenada and St.
Vincent. Visitors to some areas of the Caribbean may encounter these
birds in large numbers hanging around outdoor restaurants where they
may land at your table to seek a snack. The species can be quite tame
and very easy to see. The bananaquit is a very small bird (length
10 cm) that often visits gardens. It lives high in trees and there
you can hear its 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 |
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| Bird rescue & bird adoption;
parrot refuge/rescue & placement for unwanted birds. |
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| Check out our list of local
birds broken down by your state and different types of
species. |
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| Migrating birds stay on track
because of chemical reactions in their bodies that are
influenced by the Earth's magnetic field... |
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Part
I
March
3, 2006