Beautiful Sunbird - BirdForum Opus

Photo by the late Jim Wood
The Gambia, West Africa, April 2006

Cinnyris pulchellus

Nectarinia pulchella

Identification

Immature male
Photo by rdavis
Awasa Lake, Hawasa, Ethiopia, January 2015

Male: 14-17 cm (5½-6¾ in); Female 9–11 cm (3½-4¼ in)

• Medium-length thin down-curved bills
• Brush-tipped tubular tongues
  

Male

• Bright metallic green upperparts and upperwing-coverts
• Bright red breast patch bordered laterally by pale lime-green
• 5cm long tail streamers
  

Female

• Greenish-brown upperparts
• Yellowish underparts

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa:
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania

Taxonomy

Non-breeding male, starting to develop breeding plumage
Photo by d.flack
Gambia, March 2018

This is one of the many Sunbirds that have recently been moved to the genus Cinnyris from the genus Nectarinia.

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

• C. p. pulchellus (aegra, lucidipectus):

• Senegal to Mali, southern Niger (Aïr Massif ), Uganda and eastern Sudan

• C. p. melanogastrus:

• Eritrea to Ethiopia, north-eastern Zaire, Uganda, Kenya and south-western Tanzania

Habitat

Open habitats with some trees, dry thorn savanna, riversides, mangroves, coastal beaches and gardens. Found from 250 to 2000m

Behaviour

Diet

The diet consists of nectar, small flowers and insects and spiders.

Breeding

Its nest is suspended in a tree and 1-2 eggs are laid.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2016)
4. Wikipedia
5. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Beautiful Sunbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 30 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Beautiful_Sunbird

External Links

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