Olive-bellied Sunbird

About the Olive-bellied Sunbird

The olive-bellied sunbird (Cinnyris chloropygius) is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is widely spread across the African tropical rainforest primarily throughout West and Central Africa, but is also found in Southern and East Africa.

The olive-bellied sunbird is a small species, and very similar to the tiny sunbird (Cinnyris minullus) in appearance. The adult male has a metallic green head, back and throat, dark brown wings, a metallic blue rump and a black tail with a purplish-blue sheen. It has a narrow blue breast band above a wider scarlet breast patch, lemon-yellow pectoral tufts and an olive belly. It differs from the slightly smaller tiny sunbird in having a larger beak and no blue bars among the red breast plumage. The adult female has an olive-brown head and upper parts, dark brown wings and dark brown tail. The underparts are olive washed with yellow, and are yellower and less streaked than the tiny sunbird.

The olive-bellied sunbird moves about singly or in pairs, or sometimes in groups of about six birds. It forages in the lower parts of the canopy, feeding on caterpillars, beetles, spiders, nectar, flowers and seeds. The... Wikipedia →