Bird watching in Africa - Shining Sunbird

The Shining Sunbird (Cinnyris habessinicus) is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.

Distribution
It is found in Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, and Yemen.

Habitat
This species prefers rocky or sandy areas and dry river beds with Acacia and Ziziphus trees.

Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net

www.oiseaux.net is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there

Subspecies

• Cinnyris habessinicus habessinicus (Hemprich and Ehrenberg)

• Cinnyris habessinicus turkanae van Someren

• Cinnyris habessinicus alter Neumann

• Cinnyris habessinicus hellmayri Neumann

• Cinnyris habessinicus kinneari Bates

Description
Cinnyris habessinicus are highly dimorphic and have three distinct plumages, juvenal, immature and adult. Adult males in breeding plumage have brilliant metallic green upperparts and throat, a violet or blue crown, a bright red band across the breast with a narrow line of metallic blue, and blue-black wings and tail.

The female are mainly gray or brown. These small sunbirds mainly feed on nectar.

Female

Djibouti - September 2018

Male

Djibouti - September 2018

Female Sunbird feeding on nectar

Djibouti - September 2018

Listen to the Shining Sunbird

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 16 July 2012.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia