Bates's Sunbird Cinnyris batesi Scientific name definitions

9–10 cm; 5·7–7 g. Male is dark olive above, with faint pale stripe above eye, dark brown wings edged pale yellow, black tail widely edged green-olive, outer rectrices tipped olive; paler grey-olive below, yellowish on central belly; wispy pale yellow feathers (paler, sometimes white, at base) at side of breast appear as pectoral tufts, but probably elongated axillaries or underwing-coverts; iris dark brown; bill black, pale base of lower mandible; legs black. Female is like male, but elongated underwing-coverts paler, less yellow, and sometimes all white or reduced. Juvenile is similar to adult.

E Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and from Nigeria and S Cameroon E to N Congo and Central African Republic, and S, including Bioko, to S Gabon; also NW Angola (Cabinda), E, C & SE DRCongo and extreme NW Zambia.

Primary forest, forest edges and cultivations with tall trees, also clearings and secondary growth.

No data.

Nectar, berries, fruits, insects and spiders (Araneae). Forages singly and in small groups in canopy; joins mixed-species flocks. Visits flowers of Macaranga assas and flowers in forest canopy, where usually found on mossy branches with epiphytes.

Song a quiet trill followed by nasal “ts-tsp” or repetitions of “ts”. Calls include “tsk”, “weet”, “tseeep” and “tsp-tsp ch-ch-chur”.

Laying recorded in Jul and Dec in Cameroon, Feb in DRCongo and Feb–Mar in Gabon. Nest a pouch made of pappus, leaves and cobwebs, adorned with moss, lined with cottony fluff, suspended 2–3 m above ground in bush. Clutch 1–2 eggs, matt light pink with grey-green or pinkish spots and blotches, or brown with a few deep brown or yellow-brown blotches. No other information.

Not globally threatened. Rare to uncommon in most of its range, but may be overlooked. Common in Cameroon and locally common in Equatorial Guinea and in Gabon. Densities of 30–60 birds/km² recorded in Gabon.