Mrs. Gould's Sunbird - BirdForum Opus

Male, Nominate subspecies
Photo © by Yeshey Dorji
Taba, Western Bhutan, August 2004

Alternative name: Gould's Sunbird

Aethopyga gouldiae

Identification

Male 14–15 cm (5½-6 in), female 10 cm (4 in)
Male has a long tail

• Nominate male has a violet crown

Distribution

Male, Subspecies annamensis
Photo © by Lathers
Dalat, Vietnam, January 2019

Asia: found in China, Tibet, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh
Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Female, Subspecies annamensis
Photo © by Lathers
Dalat, Vietnam, January, 2019

There are 4 subspecies^[1]:

• A. g. gouldiae:

• Himalayas (Sutlej Valley to Arunachal Province and south-eastern Tibet)

• A. g. gouldiae isolata:

• Southern Assam to Bangladesh and north-western Burma (Chin Hills)

• A. g. gouldiae dabryii:

• Western China (Xinjiang to Sichuan and Yunnan) to Burma, northern Laos

• A. g. gouldiae annamensis:

• Southern Laos (Bolavens Plateau) and southern Vietnam (Langbian Plateau)

Habitat

Mixed Bluepine forest, up to 3600m, and city parks

Behaviour

Diet

Their main diet consists of necta, spiders and insects.

Breeding

They construct an oval or pear-shaped nest.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Cheke, R. & Mann, C. (2020). Gould's Sunbird (Aethopyga gouldiae). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/60080 on 31 March 2020)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Mrs. Gould's Sunbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Mrs._Gould%27s_Sunbird

External Links

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