Golden-winged sunbird
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The golden-winged sunbird (''Drepanorhynchus reichenowi'') 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 ...
. Three subspecies are recognised. It is found in
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
,
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
,
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
, and
Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
.


Description

The male golden-winged sunbird is about 9 in (23 cm) long and the female is about 6 in (15 cm) long, the male having long central tail feathers. Yellow-edged feathers in the wings and tail are key identification pointers in all plumages of both the male and female. Body feathers of the male in breeding condition are a conspicuous metallic reddish-copper colour, which are mostly replaced by dull-black feathers in the non-breeding condition. The underparts of the male are brownish-black. The female is olive above and yellowish below. Immature are similar to females, except their underparts are darker.


Taxonomy

German naturalist Gustav Fischer described the golden-winged sunbird in 1884, its species name honouring
Anton Reichenow Anton Reichenow (1 August 1847 in Charlottenburg – 6 July 1941 in Hamburg) was a German ornithologist and herpetologist. Reichenow was the son-in-law of Jean Cabanis, and worked at the Natural History Museum of Berlin from 1874 to 1921. He wa ...
. It is classified as the only species in the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Drepanorhynchus'' or sometimes in the genus ''
Nectarinia ''Nectarinia'' is a genus of birds in the sunbird family, Nectariniidae. What species belong to it has been highly contentious for many decades. Towards the late 20th century, the dominant trend was to use it to group all "typical" sunbirds. More ...
''. Three subspecies are recognised. The nominate subspecies is found in southern and western Uganda into Kenya (including Mt Kilimanjaro) and Tanzania, subspecies ''lathburyi'' is smaller and its plumage has a more red-metallic sheen and is found in more montane regions of Kenya from 1700 to 2300 m, and subspecies ''shellyae'' is found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo above 2100 m. Females of this subspecies have a grey rather than green crown.


Distribution and habitat

The golden-winged sunbird is found in
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
,
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
,
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
, and
Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
, between altitudes of 1170 and 2300 m. It is found in forest verges and clearings, in cultivated areas, bamboo forest and tall grassland. The species is locally nomadic, following food supply.


Behaviour


Feeding

Golden-winged sunbirds consume the
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 ...
from flowers of the mint ''
Leonotis nepetifolia ''Leonotis nepetifolia'', (also known as klip dagga, Christmas candlestick, or lion's ear), is a species of plant in the genus ''Leonotis'' and the family Lamiaceae (mint). It is native to tropical Africa and southern India. It can also be found ...
'' flowers as their main food source, but they also feed infrequently on other flower species: '' Aloe graminicola'' and '' Leonotis mollissima'' during the breeding season, and also ''
Crotalaria ''Crotalaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae (subfamily Faboideae) commonly known as rattlepods. The genus includes over 700 species of herbaceous plants and shrubs. Africa is the continent with the majority of ''Crotalar ...
'' species including '' C. agatiflora'', ''
Erythrina abyssinica ''Erythrina abyssinica'' (lucky bean or flame tree) is a tree species of the genus '' Erythrina'' belonging to the plant family of the Fabaceae (or Leguminosae) described by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1825. This leguminous tree species is ...
'', ''
Fuchsia ''Fuchsia'' () is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first to be scientifically described, '' Fuchsia triphylla'', was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republi ...
'' species, ''
Ipomoea batatas The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...
'', ''
Jacaranda mimosifolia ''Jacaranda mimosifolia'' is a sub-tropical tree native to south-central South America that has been widely planted elsewhere because of its attractive and long-lasting violet-colored flowers. It is also known as the jacaranda, blue jacaranda, ...
'', '' Phragmanthera dschallensis'' and other pea species. The golden-winged sunbird also eats insects such as beetles, flies, ants, bees and wasps and various larvae. Territorial birds, golden-winged sunbirds defend patches of ''Leonotis nepetifolia'' flowers outside the breeding season in
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
. This species flowers in July when little else is in flower. The concept of economic defendability, in which the defence of a resource has costs (such as energy expenditure and risk of injury) and benefits (priority access to the resource), explains the
territorial behavior In ethology, territory is the sociographical area that an animal consistently defends against conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against animals of other species) using agonistic behaviors or (less commonly) real physical aggression. A ...
that golden-winged sunbirds exhibit. Field studies in Kenya show that the sunbirds live in the highland areas in a geographical distribution similar to that of ''
Leonotis ''Leonotis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae.Raymond M. Harley, Sandy Atkins, Andrey L. Budantsev, Philip D. Cantino, Barry J. Conn, Renée J. Grayer, Madeline M. Harley, Rogier P.J. de Kok, Tatyana V. Krestovskaja, Ramón ...
''. They are active during the daytime and spend their time sitting on perches, fighting for territorial defence, or foraging for nectar. The energetic costs of each activity the sunbirds exhibit during the day has been calculated. When the daily costs are compared to the extra nectar gained by defending a territory, territorial birds make a net energetic profit. Field studies show that territorial birds need to spend less time per day foraging to meet their daily energy requirements when the flowers contain more nectar. By defending a territory a bird excludes other nectar consumers and, therefore, increases the amount of nectar available in each flower. Sunbirds satisfy their energy demands more rapidly, saving foraging time and allowing them to spend the spare time sitting on perches, which is less energetically expensive than
foraging Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's Fitness (biology), fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Optimal foraging theory, Foraging theory is a branch of behaviora ...
. This saving has to be weighed against the cost of defence, so if there is more than enough nectar in the flowers then it is easier just to share the nectar with other birds. When there is a minimal amount of nectar, possibly due to a bad season, the birds increase their territoriality, except when the nectar levels are too low to support cost of defence. Usually territories involve only a single resident individual. Occasionally, a female can coexist with a male on a large territory and participate in its defence. Such sharing may relate to a complex prolonged pattern of pair formation. Feeding territories may be defended by all age and sex classes of the golden-winged sunbirds, including juveniles. The birds defend their territories both intra-specifically and inter-specifically against all sunbird species in the area. The success of the defence depends in part on the dominance relationships of the intruding individual, where persistent individuals of larger bird species such as the bronzy sunbird may feed successfully. Territory sizes vary greatly, ranging from 6.7 to 2300 m2, but each territory contains about the same number of flowers. Sometimes, when a female golden-winged sunbird intrudes on a bronzy sunbird's territory, it performs a
begging Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public place ...
display by quivering its wings and spreading its tail. This causes the bronzy sunbird to tolerate the foraging of the golden-winged sunbird in its territory. Female sunbirds spread their feet apart on the stalk of a ''Leonotis'' plant and turn their bodies 90° to the stalk and fan their tail feathers to varying degrees.


Status

The golden-winged sunbird has a large range and its total population has not been estimated; however, it is not thought to be endangered and it is evaluated as
Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
on the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
.


Gallery

File:NectariniaReichenowiKeulemans.jpg, Painting showing male and female by Keulemans, 1884


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1924213
golden-winged sunbird The golden-winged sunbird (''Drepanorhynchus reichenowi'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. Three subspecies are recognised. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Description The male gol ...
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa Birds of East Africa
golden-winged sunbird The golden-winged sunbird (''Drepanorhynchus reichenowi'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. Three subspecies are recognised. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Description The male gol ...
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot