Cinnyris fuelleborni
The Forest Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris fuelleborni) is a vibrant and agile passerine, measuring a petite 10-12 cm in length and weighing just 6-10 grams. Males are stunning with an iridescent metallic green head, back, and throat, accented by a narrow metallic blue-violet band on the lower throat, which gives way to a broad, striking scarlet-red breast band before fading into a dark blackish belly. Females, by contrast, exhibit a more subdued olive-grey plumage above and yellowish-grey ...
Montane and submontane forests, forest edges, clearings, and sometimes cultivated areas or gardens, typically at elevations between 1,000 and 2,500 meters.
Primarily nectar, supplemented by small insects and spiders. Forages by probing flowers, gleaning, and occasional hawking.
This diurnal species is highly active during daylight hours, flitting among flowering plants and often roosting communally in dense foliage overnight. Its primary foraging strategy involves acrobatic hovering or perching to probe deep into flowers for nectar using its long, specialized decurved b...
The Forest Double-collared Sunbird is a resident species found across scattered montane and submontane forest patches in central and eastern Africa. Its distribution spans the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique. Two recognized subspecies exist: *Cinnyris fuelle...
Least Concern
- This sunbird possesses a highly specialized long, brush-tipped tongue perfectly adapted for extracting nectar from flowers. - Despite their shared nectar-feeding habits and hovering flight, sunbirds are entirely unrelated to the hummingbirds of the Americas, representing a fascinating example o...