Black Sunbird
Leptocoma aspasia
A small songbird with a long downcurved bill. Male is blackish with iridescent areas: crown glossed greenish or blue, and shoulders, rump, and tail glossed with blue. Throat iridescent reddish-purple in most of range, but blueish in the north Moluccas and Kai islands. Female is nondescript, with a grayish head, white throat, olive upperparts, and yellowish underparts over much of range. In the south Moluccas and Aru islands, underparts are grayish. Juvenile resembles female, but yellower on throat. Inhabits forest edge, open forest, gardens, and scrub in lowlands and hills. Male can be separated from dark-bellied forms of male Olive-backed Sunbird by glossy, iridescent crown and black back. Females differ from Olive-backed Sunbird by absence of eyebrow, absence of white tail tip, white throat, grayish head, and duller yellow underparts. Females lack eye-ring, unlike larger female Brown-throated Sunbird, and are less uniform underneath than female Elegant Sunbird.
Identification
It is a small songbird with a long down-curved bill and iridescent body. The black sunbird has a lifespan of approximately 3.6 years. The coloring of the birds differentiate between male and female. The male black sunbird is midnight black in color with an iridescent blue-purple stripe across the upper chest. There is a crown of lustrous green on the head, while the wings and tail are glossed blue. In many regions, the throat area is iridescent reddish-purple; however, moving northward it shifts towards a bluish sparkle (Moluccas and Kai Islands). The female black sunbird has a completely different color complex than her male counterpart. Her coloration across the chest and body is dusted greenish-yellow. The wings are smothered brown as well as the head. In northern areas, the color of the female black sunbird is "nondescript", with a charcoal colored head, with an olive-green upper-body and yellow underbody. The juvenile black sunbird resembles the female sunbird with more of a distinct yellow throat.
Taxonomy
Previously was placed in the genus Nectarinia, before it was revised in 2016.
- Scientific name
- Leptocoma aspasia
- Authority
- (Lesson, RP & Garnot, 1828)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Nectariniidae
- Genus
- Leptocoma
Range and habitat
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest. The black sunbird prefers a variety of forest types, especially at the forest edge. They are common in coconut plantations and other cultivations, such as shrubs and gardens.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Asian Openbill
Anastomus oscitans
A relatively small stork species with a grayish to white body and black wings and tail with a hint of gloss. The Asian Openbill gets its name from a distinctive gap in the dull grayish yellow bill. Note the pinkish legs. Asian Openbills inhabit wetland habitats including shallow marshes, flooded agricultural fields, and lakes. From a distance they could be confused with herons, but they can be clearly distinguished from herons by their feeding habits—wading slowly through shallow water. Soars frequently, often in large dense flocks; note extended neck, unlike retracted neck of herons and egrets.
Tepui Wren
Troglodytes rufulus
Small, rufous-brown bird of tepui undergrowth. Readily identified by small size, rufous-brown plumage, buffy eyebrow, and (at close range) black barring on wings and tail. Occurs in mossy forest understory and stunted forest at middle and high elevations of the tepui region. Usually remains in dense cover and can be difficult to see, but it will sing from exposed perches. Found in pairs, which forage for insects on and near the ground and typically do not join mixed-species flocks. Song is a high, metallic pair of notes slurred together, the second note lower-pitched, repeated at length and sometimes extended into a tinkling, jumbled series. Calls are harsh scolds reminiscent of other wrens. Distinguished from Flutist Wren (only other wren in range) by strongly rufous coloration and buffy eyebrow.
Slaty Antwren
Myrmotherula schisticolor
Small, warblerlike bird of humid evergreen forest in tropical foothills and locally in lowlands. Usually in pairs, foraging in tangles and leaf clusters at low to middle levels in forest understory, often with mixed-species feeding flocks; easily overlooked. Note the rather short tail. Male gray overall with blackish throat and breast patch and white wingbars. Female notably drab brownish overall, with paler throat and eyering; best identified by nearby presence of male.
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