The brown-throated sunbird (''Anthreptes malacensis''), also known as the plain-throated sunbird, is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Nectariniidae Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly i ...

. It is found in a wide range of semi-open habitats in

south-east Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

, ranging from

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

to the

Lesser Sundas The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up ...

and west

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The grey-throated sunbird found in the remaining part of the Philippines is often considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the brown-throated sunbird, but the two differ consistently in measurements and

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

, and there is no evidence of

intergradation In zoology, intergradation is the way in which two distinct subspecies are connected via areas where populations are found that have the characteristics of both. There are two types of intergradation: primary and secondary intergradation. Primary ...

between them.

Taxonomy

The following

are recognised: * ''A. m. malacensis'' (

Scopoli Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Au ...

, 1786) –

mainland Southeast Asia Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

and satellite islands, most of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

aside from the north,

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

* ''A. m. anambae'' Oberholser, 1917 –

Anambas Islands Anambas Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Anambas) is a small archipelago of Indonesia, located northeast of Batam Island in the North Natuna Sea between the Malaysian mainland to the west and the island of Borneo to the east. Geographi ...

* ''A. m. erixanthus'' Oberholser, 1932 –

Natuna Islands ''(Sacred Ocean, Fortune Land) , image_map = , pushpin_map = Indonesia Riau Islands#Indonesia Sumatra#Indonesia#South China Sea , pushpin_map_caption = Location in Riau Islands##Location in Sumatra##Location in I ...

* ''A. m. bornensis''

Riley Riley may refer to: Names * Riley (given name) * Riley (surname) Places * Riley Park–Little Mountain, a neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada * Riley Creek (Ontario), a tributary of the Black River in Central Ontario, Canada * Ri ...

, 1920 – north Borneo * ''A. m. mjobergi''

Bangs Bang or bangs may refer to: Products * M1922 Bang rifle, a US semi-automatic rifle designed by Søren Hansen Bang * Bang, a List of model car brands, model car brand * Bang (beverage), an energy drink Geography * Bang, Lorestan, a village in I ...

& Peters, JL, 1927 – Maratua * ''A. m. paraguae'' Riley, 1920 –

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...

* ''A. m. heliolusius'' Oberholser, 1923 –

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

* ''A. m. wiglesworthi''

Hartert Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (29 October 1859 – 11 November 1933) was a widely published German ornithologist. Life and career Hartert was born in Hamburg, Germany on 29 October 1859. In July 1891, he married the illustrator Claudia Bernadine E ...

, 1902 – Sulu Archipelago * ''A. m. iris''

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

, 1971 –

Sibutu Islands The Sibutu Islands are an archipelago in the southern Philippines. It is geographically and ethnologically the islands are part of Borneo. The archipelago consists of the following inhabited islands; Sibutu, Tumindao, Sitangkai, Omapui, Sipankot, a ...

* ''A. m. chlorigaster'' Sharpe, 1877 –

Western Visayas Western Visayas ( hil, Kabisay-an Nakatundan; tl, Kanlurang Kabisayaan or ''Kanlurang Visayas'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. It consists of six provinces (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimara ...

* ''A. m. cagayanensis'' Mearns, 1905 –

Mapun Mapun, officially the Municipality of Mapun, is a 4th class municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 30,038 people. It is formerly known as Cagayan de Sulu until 1984, then as ...

* ''A. m. heliocalus'' Oberholser, 1923 – Sangihe and Siau * ''A. m. celebensis'' Shelley, 1878 –

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

and satellite islands * ''A. m. extremus'' Mees, 1966 – Banggai and Sula * ''A. m. convergens'' Rensch, 1929 –

Lombok Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is rou ...

to Alor * ''A. m. rubrigena'' Rensch, 1931 –

Sumba Sumba ( id, Pulau Sumba) is an island in eastern Indonesia. It is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Sumba has an area of , and the population was 779,049 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as a ...

Description

The brown-throated sunbird is a relatively large, heavy

sunbird Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly i ...

with a thick

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

. Measuring some in length, it has a mass of , with males averaging slightly larger than females. Like most sunbirds, the male brown-throated sunbird is more colourful than the female. The male has iridescent green and purple upperparts with chestnut on the wing-coverts and scapulars; it is primarily yellow below. The female is olive-green above and yellowish below.

Behaviour

The brown-throated sunbird primarily feeds on

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

, but it will also take small fruits and berries. Juveniles are fed with insects.

Gallery

Image:Brown-throated Sunbird male.jpg, Male Image:Brown-throated_Sunbird_female.jpg, Female Image:IAnthreptes malacensis heliocalus,adult male.JPG , male ''A. m. heliocalus'' Image:Anthreptes malacensis heliocalus, male.JPG , adult ''A. m. heliocalus'' Image:Plain-throated Sunbird.jpg , male Image:Anthreptes malacensis heliocalus, female.JPG , adult ''A. m. heliocalus'' Image:Anthreptes malacensis heliocalus, adult female.JPG , adult ''A. m. heliocalus'' Image:Burung-madu Kelapa.JPG , Juvenile, female ''A. m. heliocalus'' Image:Anthreptes malacensis heliocalus, juvenile.JPG , juvenile ''A. m. heliocalus''

References

* Cheke, Robert A., Mann, Clive F., & Allen, Richard. (2001). ''Sunbirds: A Guide to the Sunbirds, Flowerpeckers, Spiderhunters and Sugarbirds of the World.'' Christopher Helm, London. pp. 184–186. brown-throated sunbird Birds of Southeast Asia brown-throated sunbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Nectariniidae-stub