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
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Prinia crinigera
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Turner's Eremomela
Eremomela turneri
A very small, well-marked warbler. Note the gray upperparts, the rufous forehead, and the white underparts with a black chest band. Found very locally in low- and middle-elevation rainforest, often along the forest edge. Very similar to Rufous-crowned Eremomela, but usually distinguished by range, and also slightly smaller, with less rufous on the crown. Usually in small groups, which frequently join mixed flocks. Inconspicuous vocalizations are high-pitched “sit” notes, sometimes given singly, and sometimes in a quick series.
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