Neergaard's sunbird (''Cinnyris neergaardi'') 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 Mozambique and South Africa. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

subtropical or tropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

near the coast, where it is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. It is named after Paul Neergaard, a Danish recruiting officer for the

Wenela The Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (WNLA), more popularly Wenela, was set up by the gold mines in South Africa as a recruiting agency for migrant workers. Eventually, it comprised a large organisation with its own depots, buses and aeropl ...

agency, who was stationed in southern Mozambique.

Description

Neergaard's sunbird is a small species with a relatively short beak. The adult male has a metallic green head, back, and throat, black wings, a blue rump, and a brownish-black tail. It has yellow , a narrow blue collar, a scarlet lower breast, and a black belly. The adult female has a greyish-brown head and upper parts, an olive-brown rump, and a dark brown tail. There is a pale

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also ...

over the eye, and the underparts are pale greyish brown. The eyes in both sexes are dark brown, and the beak and legs are black. The juvenile resembles the female.

Ecology

Neergaard's sunbird feeds in the canopy, often in the company of the

amethyst sunbird The amethyst sunbird, also called the black sunbird (''Chalcomitra amethystina''), is a species of passerine bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is native to the Afrotropical realm, Afrotropics, mostly south of the equator. They are commonly foun ...

(''Chalcomitra amethystina''). It feeds on nectar, insects, and spiders.

Status

Neergaard's sunbird has a limited range and a moderately small population. It is restricted to the coastal belt of Mozambique and South Africa between

Inhambane Inhambane, also known as Terra de Boa Gente (''Land of Good People''), is a city located in southern Mozambique, lying on Inhambane Bay, 470 km northeast of Maputo. It is the capital of the Inhambane Province and according to the 2017 census ...

in southern Mozambique and

Richards Bay Richards Bay ( af, Richardsbaai) is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is situated on a 30 square kilometre lagoon of the Mhlatuze River, which makes it one of the country's largest harbours. Richards Bay also has the deepest natural ha ...

in northern

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

in South Africa. There are two separate populations in Mozambique, one north of the

Limpopo River The Limpopo River rises in South Africa and flows generally eastward through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers led by Hosi Rivombo who settled in the mountaino ...

and one south of

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

. Its habitat is dry woodland, especially on sandy soil, and coastal scrub. Although this bird is common at some of the locations where it occurs, the population is thought to be in decline because of

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as "

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

References

External links

Neergaard's Sunbird species text in ''The Atlas of Southern African Birds''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2226102 Neergaard's sunbird Birds of East Africa Neergaard's sunbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot