Garden Sunbird
Cinnyris jugularis
Tiny and active sunbird of forest edges, parks, and gardens. Endemic to the Philippines (excluding Palawan). Both sexes have a plain olive back, a yellow belly, and white tail edges that are flared out in flight. The male flashes an iridescent blue throat while the female has a yellow throat and eyebrow. Gives a fast, jumbled series of rising whistles and squeaks. Frequently-heard call, a rising “dweet”, is a familiar sound even in cities. Formerly grouped with other, closely related species under “Olive-backed Sunbird.”
Identification
The ornate sunbird is 10–11.4 cm (3.9–4.5 in) in length. The male weighs 6.7–11.9 g (0.24–0.42 oz), the female 6–10 g (0.21–0.35 oz). The species is sexual dimorphic. The male of the nominate subspecies is olive above, the remiges are black with green edging and the black tail has a white tip. The throat, side of neck, throat and breast are blue-black iridescent. The underparts are yellow. The iris is dark brown, the bill and legs are black. The female lacks the iridescent throat, is greenish-olive above, and has a yellow supercilium. For the male Cinnyris ornatus ornatus subspecies, it differs from the male garden sunbird in having some purple-black gloss on forehead and having paler yellow plumage below.
Taxonomy
The ornate sunbird was formally described in 1827 by the French naturalist René Lesson under the binomial name Cinnyris ornatus. He based his description on a hand-coloured plate showing the male and female birds that had been published in 1822 as part of a book by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. Temminck's specimens had been collected in Java. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "ornate" or "adorned". The ornate sunbird forms part of the olive-backed sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis) species complex. A comparison of mitochondrial DNA sequences has revealed deep genetic divergence from the other groups sampled. With the split of the complex the olive-backed sunbird has been renamed to the garden sunbird.<p>Eight subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Cinnyris jugularis
- Authority
- Lesson, RP, 1827
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Nectariniidae
- Genus
- Cinnyris
Range and habitat
The ornate sunbird is resident in Myanmar, southern China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is found in various habitats including mangroves, forest edge, open scrub as well as parks and gardens.
Behavior
The elongated hanging nest is 30–60 cm (12–24 in) in length and has a hooded side entrance. It is usually placed between 0.5 and 1.5 m (1 ft 8 in and 4 ft 11 in) above the ground but can occasionally be as high as 10 m (33 ft). It is constructed by the female using grass, bark, moss, lichens, leaf fragments, vegetable fibres and spider webs. The clutch of 1–3 eggs is incubated by the female. The eggs hatch after 11–16 days and the young are then fed by both parents. The chicks fledge after 13–16 days. Normally several broods are raised each year.<p>It forages either singly or in small groups. The diet mainly consists of small insects, spiders, nectar and small fruit.
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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