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Bronze manikins, Spermestes cucullata, often become the most common resident bird in a garden with a seed-feeding station, up to 50 birds flocking together. They eat non-stop and forays to a nearby birdbath is often undertaken by a large part of the flock. They get very tame, allowing a person to approach them to within a metre or two before taking flight.

They like to huddle together like seen in the picture below.


Large view

The differences between males and females are clearly demonstrated in the pictures below.

Male

Young female

saw these little fellows at settlers park in june this year.

After an absence of over 3 years, they finally moved into my garden.

lucky!!!!!

Saw these little guys in my Garden today!

Wow, great photos!

Lovely pics indeed!

We have flocks of them that visit our garden during winter. Come summer, they seem to disappear ... is this because they have separated to go off and mate? And why does one not see a few during summer at least?

Thanks Yolande and DB:D

Im not to sure on their habits when it comes to seasonal movements, But I hardly see any during the winter around my house, maybe once a month(See them further north quite often in Winter)...But Get flocks in my garden almost daily during Summer when the grasses are in seed! They often breed singularly, but also just as often breed with up to six nests only one metre apart. So im not to sure why they not around for you to see in summer , I see them year out.

Stunning pics indeed RJ,

I have noticed some visiting my balcony the past few days, must get the camera out as I'm not too sure which ones they are.
Bronze or Redbacked?

Thank you Elsa,

In Durban, you have all three species present........Bronze, Red-Backed(Seen in Mkhuze GR) and Magpie(Yet to be seen) I agree, You'll have to get some photos, but all in all, they easy to tell apart.

Bronze Mannikin(Photo Above)

Red-Backed-(Male...Has an all round pale bill,chestnut red back, and a patch of barring in it's primaries.)

Magpie-(Has an all round dark bill, Large in size, compared to the others, a brown back, and heavy bars on its flanks)

They visited my garden only in the winter. I've never seen one in the summer.

Nice photos, J.J I wonder if there are seqsonal movements between the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, Will have a look when Im down at Rhodes!