Victim of Abuse

This little female waxeye does not get along with the male she associates with. I don’t know if she’s a hanger-on or a battered wife. She follows him about. When he comes to the sugar water dispenser she is there acting as lookout so that he can drink in safety. Normally, when the male has finished he will either watch over his mate as she drinks, or he will fly off and leave her to it. Not so this fellow. He remains close to the feeder and attacks her each time she approaches. She is not without ingenuity. I have seen her slip behind the tree trunk and sneak up under the feeder, but as soon as she reaches the opening he is on her, viciously pecking at her head.

Other couples, when they have drunk their fill, sit very close together and the female grooms the male. Sometimes he reciprocates. This pair, when the male has had enough, sit 20 or 30 centimetres apart and groom themselves.