Souimanga Sunbird
A species of Double-collared Sunbirds and Allies Scientific name : Cinnyris sovimanga Genus : Double-collared Sunbirds and Allies
Souimanga Sunbird, A species of Double-collared Sunbirds and Allies
Botanical name: Cinnyris sovimanga
Genus: Double-collared Sunbirds and Allies
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Francesco Veronesi , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Description
The souimanga sunbird is 10 cm long with a wingspan of 13 cm. The black bill is long, thin and curved. Males of the nominate subspecies have a metallic green head, back and throat. The breast is blackish with a more or less continuous red band while the belly is yellow and the wings and tail are brown. There are yellow tufts at the sides of the breast which become visible when the birds lift their wings in courtship display. Males presumably moult into a duller eclipse plumage by March–April, losing most of the metallic and red feathering for a few months. Females have grey-brown upperparts, a dull yellow belly and a grey throat and breast with darker markings. Juveniles are similar to the adult females but the chin and throat are sometimes black and the upperparts may be more olive. Abbott's sunbirds (see below) are larger - 11 cm long with a 14 cm wingspan. The males have a broader red breastband and there is no yellow on the underparts which are dark brown (ssp. abbotti) or blackish (ssp. buchenorum). Male birds of the nominate group have wings of c.50–58 mm, tails of c.31–41 mm and 20–25 mm long bills. Females measure 10% less. This bird has a chirruping flight call and a loud, hoarse alarm call. Only the male sings; a fast and scratchy song with frequently repeated phrases.
Size
11 cm
Feeding Habits
Souimanga Sunbird's diet consists of insects like beetles, Hymenoptera, bugs, Orthoptera, spiders, small arthropods, and nematodes; also favors nectar. They forage in pairs or groups, gleaning from leaves and hovering to extract from webs, and are known to pierce flower buds for food.
Habitat
The souimanga Sunbird can typically be found in a variety of forested habitats, ranging from mangroves to subdesert spiny vegetation. It also thrives in areas of secondary growth, as well as human-altered landscapes such as plantations and gardens, preferring regions with abundant foliage and flowering plants which are instrumental to their nectarivorous diet.
Dite type
Nectivorous
General Info
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Photo By Francesco Veronesi , 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
Souimanga Sunbird