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Copper-throated Sunbird Leptocoma calcostetha Scientific name definitions

Robert Cheke and Clive Mann
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated July 15, 2013

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

12·2–13 cm. Male has top of head metallic green, sides of head, hindneck, upper back, upperwing and graduated tail black, lower back, rump and upperwing-coverts metallic green; chin and throat metallic coppery red, bordered metallic purplish-blue, breast metallic purplish-blue, pectoral tufts yellow, belly and undertail-coverts black; iris brown; bill and legs black. Female has top of head grey-brown, upperparts greyish olive-green, broken white eyering, throat greyish-white, underparts olive-yellow, more yellow on belly (extent variable), undertail-coverts white, large whitish spots on tips of rectrices becoming smaller towards centre. Juvenile is similar to female, but throat yellow, some dark scaling on throat and upper breast.

Systematics History

Several races have been proposed from various islands off Sumatra, Borneo and Natunas, but none considered adequately differentiated. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Extreme S Myanmar (S Tenasserim), S Thailand, S Cambodia, Cochinchina, and Peninsular Malaysia S on coasts and islands to Sumatra and satellites; W Philippines (Palawan and Balabac), Natuna Is, coasts of Borneo and islands off NE (including Maratua), and also coasts of Java.

Habitat

Inhabits mangroves, heath forest, ­alluvial forest, secondary forest, coastal vegetation, plantations, coconut groves, cultivation and gardens close to shore; chiefly found in coastal areas, but occurs up to 915 m.

Movement

None recorded.

Diet and Foraging

Nectar and small arthropods. Feeds on nectar of Bruguiera mangroves. Forages in lower and middle storeys. Very active.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

­Utters both a high trill, and a deep melodious trill; also, a disyllabic call resembling that of Anthreptes malacensis.

Breeding

Laying calculated as Jan–Jul in Malay Peninsula, and eggs Mar–Jun, Aug–Sept and Nov in Java; occupied nest in May on Nias I (off W Sumatra); in Borneo, laying Mar–May and enlarged testes in Jun in N (Sabah) and nestlings in Jul in NW (Sarawak). Co-operative nest-building observed, and some nests may be “decoys”. Nest a pear-shaped bag, loosely woven but solid at base, with or without “tail”, with oval entrance with eave in top half, made of fine grass, fibre, kapok and hairs, camouflaged with bark, leaves and bryophytes, decorated with plant fragments, occasionally felted with spider webs or lined with egret (Ardeidae) feathers; suspended 0·7–3·5 m above ground from ­mangrove branch, bush, Casuarina branch or nipa (Nypa) frond, occasionally over water, total length 12·5 cm. Clutch 2 eggs, glossy, greyish-clay to warm brown, fine dark brown spots forming cap, or pale green with heavy olive-brown suffusion and variable number of dark brown spots. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Scarce in Myanmar; common to uncommon in Malay Peninsula; not uncommon in Sumatra and Borneo; uncommon in Java; common in Philippines. Destruction of mangroves has depleted populations in some areas. Occurs in some protected areas, e.g. St Paul Subterranean River National Park, in Philippines.

Distribution of the Copper-throated Sunbird - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Copper-throated Sunbird

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Cheke, R. and C. Mann (2020). Copper-throated Sunbird (Leptocoma calcostetha), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.cotsun2.01
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