Bird Guide

Loten's Sunbird vs Southern Double-collared Sunbird

Loten's Sunbird (Cinnyris lotenius)

Loten's Sunbird

Cinnyris lotenius

Tiny9 gForest

Loten's sunbirds are small, only 12–13 cm long. The long bill separates this from the syntopic purple sunbird. The wings are browner and the maroon breast band is visible on the male under good lighting conditions. The males have pectoral tufts of yellow mixed with crimson that are used in displays. The adult male is mainly glossy purple with a grey-brown belly. The female has yellow-grey upperparts and yellowish underparts, but lacks the purple's faint supercilium. The call is distinctive buzzy zwick zwick and they are also very active often bobbing their head while foraging.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Loten's Sunbird
Recorded by Jairam Vijayan · Song · Payyavoor, Kannur, Kerala, India · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Mickey Wu · CC BY 4.0
Southern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus)

Southern Double-collared Sunbird

Cinnyris chalybeus

Tiny8 gShrubland

The southern double-collared sunbird is 12 cm long. The adult male has a glossy, metallic green head, throat, upper breast and back. It has a brilliant red band across the chest, separated from the green breast by a narrow metallic blue band. The rest of the underparts are whitish. When displaying, yellow feather tufts can be seen on the shoulders. As with other sunbirds the bill is long and decurved. The bill, legs and feet are black. The eye is dark brown.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: i_c_riddell · CC BY 4.0

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Loten's Sunbird and Southern Double-collared Sunbird.