A bird who is pretty in pink with his guava pink face and tail and his polka dot flecked belly.
Meet the Pink-throated twinspot
The pink-throated twinspot (Hypargos margaritatus), is an estrildid finch. A delicate. slightly rotund bird with a pink uppertail, and white-spotted, pearl-like belly. The male is slightly more conspicuous than the female with his pink face, throat, and crown. The word hypargos means “possessing 100 eyes below”. “Hypo” a reference to “under” and “argus” to Argus, the 100-eyed giant in Greek mythology. And “Margaritatus” meaning “adorned with pearls”.
In other words, it is the “small, 100 pearly-eyed monster.”
The female lacks the pink throat and head of the male, having mostly gray belly and brown back.
This bird is native to southern Africa, found in southern Mozambique to Swaziland, KwaZulu-Natal and less frequently in Mpumalanga. There is also an isolated population in northern Limpopo Province.
Pink-throated twinspots generally prefer dry, thick scrub, woodland with dense and tangled undergrowth, thickets, palm savanna, and the edges of forested areas.
These birds dine mainly on seeds, grasses, sometimes supplemented with insects.
As only two nests have been reported in the wild, little is known about what occurs in the breeding season. The nest itself is an untidy ball with a side entrance, made of dry grass and skeletonized leaves, and spider webs. The nest is lined with palm fibers and leaf litter. Built about one meter above the ground, up to four eggs are laid within, which are incubated for 20-21 days.
A species not threatened globally, but near-threatened in South Africa and Swaziland, due to its small distribution range, along with habitat destruction and the caged-bird trade.
Watch this bird right here in the video below: