The black sunbird (''Leptocoma sericea'') 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 eastern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. 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 ...

s are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

and subtropical or tropical

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

Description

It is a small songbird with a long down-curved bill and iridescent body. The black sunbird has a lifespan of approximately 3.6 years. The coloring of the birds differentiate between male and female. The male black sunbird is midnight black in color with an iridescent blue-purple stripe across the upper chest. There is a crown of

lustrous Lustre (British English) or luster (American English; see spelling differences) is the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal, rock, or mineral. The word traces its origins back to the Latin ''lux'', meaning "light", and generally imp ...

green on the head, while the wings and tail are glossed blue. In many regions, the throat area is iridescent reddish-purple; however, moving northward it shifts towards a bluish sparkle (Moluccas and Kai Islands). The female black sunbird has a completely different color complex than her male counterpart. Her coloration across the chest and body is dusted greenish-yellow. The wings are smothered brown as well as the head. In northern areas, the color of the female black sunbird is “nondescript,” with a charcoal colored head, with an olive-green upper-body and yellow underbody. The juvenile black sunbird resembles the female sunbird with more of a distinct yellow throat.

Taxonomy

Animalia, chordata, aves, passeriformes, nectariniidae, leptocoma Specific name: ''Leptocoma aspasia''

Habitat

Its natural

habitats 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 ...

are

and subtropical or tropical

. The black sunbird prefers a variety of forest types, especially at the forest edge. They are common in coconut plantations and other cultivations, such as shrubs and gardens.

Diet

These birds forage for various

arthropods Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

, as well as fruit and nectar from flowers and trees. They often forage alone, in pairs or family groups, and occasionally they’re found in larger flocks; rarely do they join mixed-species flocks. They’re very active throughout their forage. The birds obtain most of their food from

gleaning Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. It is a practice described in the Hebrew Bible that became a legall ...

, and hover-gleaning as they catch their food from out the air.

Song and sounds

The song and sound is a rapid, sweet cadence lasting 1.5-4 seconds in duration. It consists of single or a series of high-pitched sibilant notes; rapid fire double notes, one is higher than the other, clear hallow peep; a rapid slurred, shrill ''zi-zi-zi-zi''closing with the flight call ''pit-pit-pit''.

Breeding

The black sunbird was recorded laying in August and September in Sulawesi, March and May-January on islands of Papua New Guinea.

Gallery

File:Leptocoma sericea (theresiae) chlorolaema Keulemans.jpg, subspecies ''chlorolaema'' File:Leptocoma sericea aspasiodes Keulemans.jpg, subspecies ''aspasiodes'' File:Leptocoma sericea corinna Keulemans.jpg, subspecies ''corinna'' File:Leptocoma sericea cornelia Keulemans.jpg, subspecies ''cornelia'' File:Leptocoma sericea grayi Keulemans.jpg, subspecies ''grayi'' File:Leptocoma sericea maforensis-mysorensis Keulemans.jpg, subspecies ''maforensis'' & ''mysorensis'' File:Leptocoma sericea nigriscapularis - salvadorii Keulemans.jpg, subspecies ''nigriscapularis'' & ''salvadorii'' File:Leptocoma sericea porphyrolaema sangirensis Keulemans.jpg, subspecies ''porphyrolaema'' & ''sangirensis'' File:Leptocoma sericea proserpina Keulemans.jpg, subspecies ''proserpina''

Subspecies

1. ''Leptocoma aspasia talautens''i 2. ''Leptocoma aspasia sangirensis'' 3. ''Leptocoma aspasia grayi'' 4. ''Leptocoma aspasia porphyrolaema'' 5. ''Leptocoma aspasia auriceps'' 6. ''Leptocoma aspasia auricapilla'' 7. ''Leptocoma aspasia proserpina'' 8. ''Leptocoma aspasia aspasioides'' 9. ''Leptocoma aspasia chlorolaema'' 10. ''Leptocoma aspasia aspasia'' 11. ''Leptocoma aspasia vincina'' 12. ''Leptocoma aspasia mariae'' 13. ''Leptocoma aspasia cochrani'' 14. ''Leptocoma aspasia maforensis'' 15. ''Leptocoma aspasia salvadorii'' 16. ''Leptocoma aspasia mysorensis'' 17. ''Leptocoma aspasia nigriscapularis'' 18. ''Leptocoma aspasia veronica'' 19. ''Leptocoma aspasia cornelia'' 20. ''Leptocoma aspasia christianae'' 21. ''Leptocoma aspasia caeruleogula'' 22. ''Leptocoma aspasia corinna'' 23. ''Leptocoma aspasia eichhorni''

References

black sunbird The black sunbird (''Leptocoma sericea'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is found in eastern Indonesia and New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mangr ...

Birds of Sulawesi Birds of the Maluku Islands Birds of New Guinea

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Nectariniidae-stub