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Honeybird

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Honeybirds
Wahlberg's honeyguide
Prodotiscus regulus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Indicatoridae
Genus: Prodotiscus
Sundevall, 1850
Type species
Prodotiscus regulus[1]
Sundevall, 1850
Species

Prodotiscus regulus
Prodotiscus zambesiae
Prodotiscus insignis

Honeybirds are birds in the genus Prodotiscus of the honeyguide family. They are confined to sub-Saharan Africa.

References - Honeybird - A guide by J Ian L. Gong

Description

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They are all drab colored birds, with grey or grey-green upper parts, and grey to whitish-grey underparts. They are among the smallest members of the honey guide family. They have slender bills compared to other members of the family.

Habits

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Unlike other honeyguides they do not feed on beeswax. They help in the pollination of plants like Strelitzia, Callistemon (bottle brush), Bombax, Butea monosperma and coral trees (see: ornithophily). They parasitise nests of cisticolas, sunbirds and other dome-nesting bird species.

Species

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There are three species:

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Prodotiscus regulus Brown-backed honeybird Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, DRC, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Prodotiscus zambesiae Green-backed honeybird Angola, Botswana, DRC, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Prodotiscus insignis Cassin's honeybird Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.

References

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  1. ^ "Picidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.