Southern Double-collared Sunbird
A species of Double-collared Sunbirds and Allies Scientific name : Cinnyris chalybeus Genus : Double-collared Sunbirds and Allies
Southern Double-collared Sunbird, A species of Double-collared Sunbirds and Allies
Botanical name: Cinnyris chalybeus
Genus: Double-collared Sunbirds and Allies
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Lip Kee Yap , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Description
The southern double-collared sunbird or lesser double-collared sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus) is a small passerine bird which breeds in southern Africa. It is mainly resident, but partially migratory in the north-east of its range.
Size
12 cm
Feeding Habits
Southern Double-collared Sunbird consumes a diet rich in nectar, insects, and spiders, often foraging from a variety of plants. It exhibits specialized feeding adaptations, such as a grooved tongue for collecting pollinia. Remarkably agile, southern Double-collared Sunbird both hovers to feed from flowers and employs hawking to catch insects on the wing.
Habitat
Southern Double-collared Sunbird inhabit a variety of environments, typically favoring areas with abundant flowering plants. Their habitats range from montane and evergreen forests to coastal scrub and inland dune thickets. They are also prevalent in human-modified landscapes such as gardens, plantations, and especially in regions populated by protea and fynbos vegetation. These birds adapt well to both highland and lowland areas, showing a preference for habitats that provide rich sources of nectar.
Dite type
Nectivorous
General Info
Behavior
The southern double-collared sunbird is usually seen singly or in small groups. Its flight is fast and direct on short wings. It lives mainly on nectar from flowers, but takes some fruit, and, especially when feeding young, insects and spiders. It can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perches to feed most of the time. The call is a hard chee-chee, and the song is high pitched jumble of tinkling notes, rising and falling in pitch and tempo for 3–5 seconds or more.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Photo By Lip Kee Yap , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Sunbirds and spiderhunters Species
Southern Double-collared Sunbird