Purple-banded Sunbird
Cinnyris bifasciatus
Male is iridescent green above, with a dark belly and maroon and bluish bands across the breast. Female is nondescript, with faint streaking across the pale yellow underparts. Found in forest, woodland, scrub, and savanna. Generally scarce and less common than other sunbird species. Vocalizations are high-pitched trills and jumbles. Very similar to Mariqua Sunbird but distinguished by slightly smaller size and shorter bill with a thinner base. Also very similar to Tsavo and Violet-breasted sunbirds, but male has a broader maroon breast band than the former, and both sexes slightly smaller and shorter-billed than the latter.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Cinnyris bifasciatus
- Authority
- (Shaw, 1812)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Nectariniidae
- Genus
- Cinnyris
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Taiwan Barbet
Psilopogon nuchalis
Highly distinctive Taiwan endemic, bright green with a rainbow-hued face in red, blue, and yellow. Inhabits forests, parks, and gardens from lowlands into montane regions. Bold for a barbet, occasionally perching in treetops. Sometimes forms flocks. Vocalizations include frog-like croaking or bubbling notes and hollow bubbling hoots.
Tawny-flanked Prinia
Prinia subflava
A slender, active unstreaked warbler with a long graduated tail that is sometimes cocked. It is mouse-brown above and pale below, with tawny flanks and a distinctive pale eyebrow. Pairs and small groups patrol rank grass, riverine scrub, and thickets in savanna, where they are often on the ground or in the lower levels of vegetation. The species sings a strident “stiiikk” note repeatedly 6-15 times before pausing, but it may sing incessantly for minutes, and it also has a tinnier “stip-stip-stip” call; tone and pitch vary geographically. The similar Pale Prinia is more washed out with whitish flanks, and the very similar-looking River Prinia is local, restricted to riverine fringes in the Sahel, and has a sweeter higher-pitched song.
Olive-chested Flycatcher
Myiophobus cryptoxanthus
Drab and unremarkable flycatcher found in the eastern foothills of the Andes in Ecuador and northern Peru. Note grayish-olive upperparts, dingy white underparts, yellow tinge to the belly, and pale wingbars. Yellow crown stripe is usually concealed. Habitat is a good ID clue: it perches low in grassy clearings with scattered bushes and small trees, and never ventures inside forest. Call is an inflected whistle repeated every few seconds, and song is a short, rising trill.
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