Cinnyris moreaui
The Moreau's Sunbird, Cinnyris moreaui, is a vibrant and elusive passerine endemic to the fragmented montane forests of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania and Malawi. Males are strikingly beautiful, displaying a metallic iridescent green crown, nape, and mantle, complemented by purplish-blue ear-coverts and a brilliant metallic green throat. A distinctive bright yellow band separates the green throat from a blackish belly, often flanked by prominent reddish-orange pectoral tufts, making th...
This species primarily inhabits montane evergreen forests, particularly at forest edges, clearings, and areas with flowering plants, typically at elevations between 800 and 2,400 meters above sea level.
The primary diet consists of nectar, supplemented by small insects and spiders, which they glean from foliage or capture in flight using their specialized long, decurved bills.
Moreau's Sunbirds are active during the day, spending much of their time foraging, often alone or in pairs, but occasionally joining mixed-species feeding flocks. Their foraging strategy involves probing flowers with their specialized bills for nectar and snatching small insects and spiders from ...
The Moreau's Sunbird has a highly restricted and fragmented distribution, endemic to the montane forests of the Eastern Arc Mountains, spanning parts of Tanzania and Malawi. In Tanzania, it is found in the Usambara, Nguru, Ukaguru, Udzungwa, and Mahenge mountains. Further south, isolated populati...
Vulnerable
- Moreau's Sunbird is named after R.E. Moreau, a prominent British ornithologist who conducted extensive research in East Africa. - It is one of the approximately 130 species in the genus Cinnyris, a group known for their brilliant iridescent plumages. - The species is a flagship bird for the Eas...