Van Hasselt's Sunbird
Leptocoma brasiliana
Attractive medium-sized sunbird of lowland forests, from coastal scrub forests to inland evergreen forests. Male is black with an iridescent pink-red throat, a red belly, and a glistening blue-green crown. Female is extensively yellowish with a pale vent and a thin dark line through the eye. Purple-throated Sunbird is essentially identical, but ranges do not overlap. Female Plain-throated Sunbird can be similar, but is straighter-billed, with a darker head, and a faint pale ring around the eye. Song, often given from an exposed perch, consists of squeaky rising whistles and chip notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Leptocoma brasiliana
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Nectariniidae
- Genus
- Leptocoma
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Hardhead
Aythya australis
Chocolate brown diving duck with white rump and large white panels in the wings. Male has white eyes. Female is slightly paler with dusky eyes. Similar to Musk and Blue-billed Ducks, but Hardhead sits higher in the water, has a white patch on the rump, and lacks a spiky tail.
Zebra Woodpecker
Meiglyptes tristis
Extremely rare and little-known small woodpecker with a large crested head, boldly marked black-and-white wings, black chest, and big dark eyes. Male has a faint red splotch below his eye. Often forages in pairs, poking along on the ends of thinner branches and between bark crevices. Endemic to Java, where sightings are sparse; reported from lowland forests to around 1,000 meters. Calls include a dry “chit!”
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Lamprotornis chalybaeus
A medium-sized iridescent blue-green glossy starling with a dark ear-patch and contrasting royal blue to violet flanks and belly. Pairs and small groups occupy savanna, where they feed on the ground and in trees on fruit and insects; occasionally up to 300 may gather at fruiting trees. Often the species scavenges from people. It gives a cat-like nasal “squuee-aar” contact call that is distinctive. The similar Lesser Blue-eared Starling differs from Greater Blue-eared Starling by being smaller with a more compact head and finer bill, by having a smaller ear-patch, and by preferring broadleaf woodland. The Cape Starling differs from the “blue-eared” starlings by having greener ear-patches, belly, and flanks.
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