Superb Sunbird - BirdForum Opus

Subspecies ashantiensis
Photo by Brown Kwame Brown
Kakum NP, Ghana, November 2017

Cinnyris superbus

Nectarinia superba

Identification

14–16 cm (5½-6¼ in)

• Blue crown and throat
• Maroon underparts

Distribution

Female, Subspecies superbus
Photo by andy wilkes
Ssese Islands, Uganda, December 2011

Africa:
Western Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, DRC and Angola
Eastern Africa: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania

Taxonomy

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

Subspecies

There are 3 subspecies^[1]:

• C. s. ashantiensis:

• Sierra Leone to Togo and (?) Benin

• C. s. nigeriae:

• Southern Nigeria

• C. s. superbus:

• Southern Cameroon to northern Angola, Zaire, extreme western Kenya and western Tanzania

An additional subspecies buvuma is not recognised by all authorities^[2].

Habitat

Mature, secondary and gallery forests and forest edges; coffee plantations and savanna.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists of nectar, fruit and seeds. Also insects, spiders and snails.

Gallery

Click on photo for larger image

• 

  Photo by talon_dfa
  Makali, Sierra Leone, February 1979

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 Dec 2017)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Superb Sunbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 9 October 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Superb_Sunbird

External Links

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