The olive-backed sunbird (''Cinnyris jugularis''), also known as the yellow-bellied sunbird, is a species of
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 ...
found from
Southern Asia to
Australia.
Taxonomy
In 1760 the French zoologist
Mathurin Jacques Brisson
Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher.
Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...
included a description of the olive-backed sunbird in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in the Philippines. He used the French name ''Le petit grimpereau des Philippines'' and the Latin ''Certhia Philippensis Minor''.
[ The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the
binomial system and are not recognised by the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.
When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
updated his ''
Systema Naturae'' for the
twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.
[ One of these was the olive-backed sunbird. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name ''Certhia jugularis'' and cited Brisson's work. The specific name ''jugularis'' is ]Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...
for 'of the throat'. This species is now placed in the genus ''Cinnyris
''Cinnyris'' is a genus of sunbirds. Its members are sometimes included in '' Nectarinia''. They are generally known as double-collared sunbirds because the fringe of their bib usually includes a band of contrastingly coloured feathers.
The sun ...
'' that was introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1816. Currently, there are 21 subspecies described, but there is a growing body of evidence to suggest these subspecies may represent multiple cryptic species.
Description
They are small songbirds, at most long. In most subspecies, the underparts of both male and female are bright yellow, the backs are a dull brown colour. The forehead, throat and upper breast of the adult male is a dark, metallic blue-black. In the Philippines the males of some subspecies have an orange band on the chest, in Wallacea
Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of mainly Indonesian islands separated by deep-water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as ...
and northern New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
some subspecies have most of the underparts blackish, and in southern China and adjacent parts of Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
most of the underparts of the male are greyish-white.
Distribution and habitat
The olive-backed sunbird is common across southern China and Southeast 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 mainlan ...
to Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
and the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...
. Originally from mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...
habitat, the olive-backed sunbird has adapted well to humans, and is now common even in fairly densely populated areas, even forming their nests in human dwellings.[Olive-backed Sunbird]
/ref>
Behaviour
Breeding
The birds mate between the months of April and August in the Northern Hemisphere, and between August and January in the Southern Hemisphere.Breeding biology of the Yellow-bellied Sunbird Nectarinia jugularis in Northern Queensland
/ref> Both the male and the female assist in building the nest which is flask-shaped, with an overhanging porch at the entrance, and a trail of hanging material at the bottom end.[
After building the nest, the birds abandon the nest for about a week before the female returns to lay one or two greenish-blue eggs. The eggs take 2 weeks to hatch. The female may leave the nest for short periods during the day during incubation. After the chicks have hatched, both male and female assist in the care of the young, which leave the nest about two or three weeks later.][
]
Feeding
The sunbirds are a group of very small Old World passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...
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 lightweig ...
s which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Their flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering, but usually perch to feed most of the time.
Gallery
File:Olive-backed Sunbird hovering.jpg,
File:Olive-backed Sunbird - Wyvuri.jpg,
File:Nectarinia jugularis - Manado.JPG,
File:Nectarinia jugularis (2) - Manado.JPG,
Olive-backed sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis flammaxillaris) female Phi Phi.jpg, Female ''C. j. flammaxillaris''
Thailand
Olive-backed sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis flammaxillaris) male eclipse plumage Phi Phi.jpg, Male ''C. j. flammaxillaris''
eclipse plumage, Thailand
References
* ''Sunbirds'' by Cheke, Mann and Allen,
External links
*
Olive-backed sunbird videos, photos & sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection.
* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFA33eX7QKs&feature=c4-overview&list=UUDs9YtIHWB2Vh1KDNNV98JQ Yellow-bellied sunbird videobr>Images of female and chicks in nest
{{Taxonbar, from=Q766717
olive-backed sunbird
Birds of South China
Birds of Singapore
Birds of Southeast Asia
Birds of New Guinea
Birds of the Solomon Islands
Birds of Queensland
olive-backed sunbird
olive-backed sunbird