The brown-backed honeybird, also known as Wahlberg's honeybird, Wahlberg's honeyguide and sharp-billed honeyguide, is a species of bird in the family Indicatoridae. This bird is named after the Swedish naturalist Johan August Wahlberg.
Region
Sub-Saharan Africa
Typical Environment
Widespread across much of sub-Saharan Africa in dry to semi-humid savannas, open woodland, and thickets. It favors acacia and miombo mosaics, woodland edges, riparian strips, and bushy gardens. Often occurs in lightly wooded farmland and along scrubby river courses. It is generally local and unobtrusive, more often detected by voice than seen. Movements are mostly local, sometimes shifting with seasonal rains and flowering.
Altitude Range
0–2000 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called Wahlberg's honeybird or sharp-billed honeyguide, it is a small, inconspicuous member of the honeyguide family. Unlike the famous Greater Honeyguide, it does not regularly lead humans to bees. It is a brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of small passerines, especially sunbirds. Its sharp, slender bill is adapted for gleaning tiny insects from foliage and twigs.
Form peasei from southern Ethiopia = P. r. subsp. regulus Sundevall, 1850
Temperament
solitary and inconspicuous
Flight Pattern
short direct flights with rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly or in pairs, quietly moving through foliage. It is a brood parasite, laying eggs in the nests of small passerines, especially sunbirds, leaving the host to raise the chick. Courtship may include subtle aerial chases and soft calls. Nest building is not undertaken by the species due to its parasitic strategy.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A high, thin series of seee and tsee notes, often delivered from a concealed perch. The song is unobtrusive but repeated, carrying in quiet woodland. Calls include soft ticking and whispery trills.
Plumage
Plain brown upperparts with a slightly warmer brown back and wings, and pale underparts with fine streaking on the throat and breast. Feathers are smooth and sleek, aiding a neat, compact appearance. In flight it shows contrasting white outer tail feathers.
Diet
Primarily small insects such as scale insects, aphids, caterpillars, and beetles, gleaned from leaves and twigs. It also takes spiders and occasionally probes flowers for tiny arthropods. Unlike some larger honeyguides, wax and bee brood form at most a minor part of its diet.
Preferred Environment
Forages in the mid to upper canopy of open woodland, along edges, and in bushy gardens. Often works methodically along branches and foliage and may join mixed-species flocks.
