Caught in the act! The Cape sugarbird, famous protea pollinator of the fynbos region, visits this restaurant for nectar as well as ambushing some sweetness seeking insects. Hungry bugs visit these seductive food stores at their peril, for a flowerhead is a free for all marketplace as well as an ensnarement location; a theatre of violent interspecies crimes where those that eat may be eaten. Patient movie crews shoot box office hits here!
A sugar and protein diet low in fat is not in vogue with Cape sugarbirds even in these Banting times, for sugarbirds exercise enough not to worry about recovering their health or maintaining proper body mass.
Photos of sugarbirds hovering over Protea cynaroides flowerheads may beat this one in competitions. Judging from the length of its tail, this alert specimen is a female or possibly a moulting male as it is that time of year, early November (Maclean, 1993).