Bird of the Week – Red-backed mannikin
The tribal name is Rijajani and in Afrikaans die Rooirugfret.
A fairly common resident confined to the extreme east of South Africa.
From Transkei northwards across the whole of Mozambique and in Limpopo province inland to the Zoutpansberg. They like riverine forest, moist thickets, edges of coastal and lowland evergreen forests.
These mannikins are in pairs when breeding, otherwise in small flocks of about 12 birds. They forage on the ground and stand on inflorescence of grass, also in clearings and edges of dense cover where they hawk insects in flight. They feed on seeds and nectar.
Their call is twittering and whistling and a sharp alarm tsik-tsik. Breeding takes place from October to December. The nest is a ball of dry grass with a side entrance partly concealed by grass tops, built fairly high up in a tree. Four to six white eggs are laid. The incubation period is 12 days and they are nestling for 17 days.
The tribal name is Rijajani and in Afrikaans die Rooirugfret.
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