Palestine Sunbird
Cinnyris osea
The male is a flying gem of iridescent colors. The female is all gray with a black tail. The bill is long and downcurved, adapted to extract nectar from flowers. Normally found on flowering trees and bushes; often hovering. Favors urban and suburban gardens, but also natural habitats including arid zones, where it can be locally abundant. The male gives a beautiful series of musical whistles with local dialect variations.
Identification
The Palestine sunbird is 8 to 12 cm long with a wingspan of 14 to 16 cm. Males have an average weight of 7.6 g and females weigh around 6.8 g. The bill is fairly long, black and curves downwards. The plumage of breeding males is mostly dark but appears glossy blue or green in the light. There are orange tufts at the sides of the breast which are hard to see except at close range. Females and juveniles are grey-brown above with pale underparts. Non-breeding males are similar but may retain some dark feathers.<p>It has a high, fast, jingling song and various calls including a harsh alarm call.
Taxonomy
Genus: Cinnyris; Family: Nectariniidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Cinnyris osea
- Authority
- Bonaparte, 1856
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Nectariniidae
- Genus
- Cinnyris
Range and habitat
It occurs in areas with high temperatures and dry climate from sea level up to an altitude of 3200 m. It inhabits dry woodland, scrub, wadis, savannas, orchards and gardens. It is common in towns in some areas. <p>The Middle Eastern subspecies C. o. osea breeds from Israel, Palestine and Jordan in the north, down through western Saudi Arabia to Yemen and Oman in the south. The expansion of Jewish settlements in Israel over the last century played a significant role in the spread of the Palestine sunbird throughout the region. In recent decades it has colonized the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. It has been observed breeding in Lebanon and regularly winters in both Lebanon and Syria. <p>The African subspecies C. o. decorsei is found very locally in parts of Sudan, north-west Uganda, the Central African Republic, north-east Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Cameroon.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Relatively large chestnut flycatcher with a gray hood. Found in the interior and at the edge of humid forests, foraging mostly in the midstory, occasionally accompanying mixed-species flocks. The song is an ascending and descending series of 4-6 whistles. The similar migratory Rufous-tailed Attila has a darker gray head and cinnamon-rufous (not white) throat, and Bright-rumped Attila has distinctive wingbars, a bright yellow rump, and a streaked breast.
Brown-billed Scythebill
Campylorhamphus pusillus
In typical woodcreeper fashion, this bird is mostly warm brown with streaks on the head and breast. Look for the notably long, extremely decurved bill. This species is easy to identify when it is the only scythebill in range, but in South America it overlaps with other scythebill species. Voice can be a good clue (Brown-billed usually stutters in its whistled series), and bill color can sometimes be helpful but often difficult to judge. Hitches up tree trunks much like a woodpecker. Most often seen following a mixed-species flock in the forest, sometimes in adjacent second growth.
African Crested Flycatcher
Trochocercus cyanomelas
Small, slim, crested member of the monarch family. The male has a black hood, a large crest, and a variable white patch in the wing. The female is plainer and greyer, with a reduced crest and less white in the wing. Found in the midstory of forest, from low to high elevations. Restless bird that often joins mixed feeding flocks. Call is a zinging “zree-zre-zre”. Song is a long, musical series of hollow notes. The very pale underparts and white mark on the wing are separate it from other crested-flycatchers.
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