The Cape Sugarbird, Promerops cafer is one of the six bird species endemic to the Fynbos biome of the western and eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
It is a grey-brown bird that easily recognizable by a spot of yellowunder its tail and the very long tail feathers present in males. Themale is 34-44 cm long, and the shorter-tailed, shorter-billed, andpaler breasted female 25-29 cm long. Another characteristic of the CapeSugarbird is the sound it makes when it flies. The main flight feathersare arranged in such a way that when the bird beats its wings, a frrt-frrt sound is made with the intention of attracting females.
This bird is a specialist nectar feeder when it comes to feeding off Proteaceae. Its long, sharp beak is used to reach the nectar of a variety of species of protea with its long brush-tipped tongue. The staple diet of this sugarbird is nectar, however it will also eat spiders and insects. The characteristic strong winds in the Cape may make feeding off protea heads difficult, but the Cape Sugarbird has adapted to this with the development of sharp claws.
The Cape Sugarbird is distributed throughout the Cape Floral Regionwhere there are flowering proteas and ericas. It is also found ingardens in summer when most proteas are not in flower. The breedingseason for the Cape Sugarbird is winter when there are ample foodsupplies.
A common species throughout its range, the Cape Sugarbird is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.