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Order
Passeriformes
Family
Nectariniidae
Genus
Cinnyris
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Tsavo Sunbird Cinnyris tsavoensis Scientific name definitions

Robert Cheke and Clive Mann
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2008

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

9–11 cm; 6–7·6 g. Male has head to throat and upperparts, including median and lesser wing-coverts, iridescent green, rump and uppertail-coverts bluer; very dark brown rectrices, slighty glossed on top, with metallic green margins, remiges black; two narrow breastbands, upper one (2 mm deep) violet, lower one (3–5 mm deep) maroon, otherwise underparts, including underwing-coverts and axillaries, black; iris, bill and legs black. Female is grey-green above, with narrow brown-white supercilium, grey-brown cheek, long whitish malar stripe; tail darker and slightly glossy, outer three pairs of rectrices tipped whitish, whitish edges on outermost feather pair, wings dark brown, edged olive, grey tips on median and lesser wing-coverts; throat pale creamy, underparts pale brownish-white, breast streaked grey-brown, yellow wash below, underwing-coverts and axillaries off-white; bare parts as male. Juvenile is as female, but has darker chin and throat and contrasting pale malar stripes, dark brown barring on abdomen.

Systematics History

In the past sometimes treated as a subspecies of C. bifasciatus. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

E Kenya and NE Tanzania.

Habitat

Dry savanna with acacia (Acacia) or Commiphora, and riverine woodland.

Movement

No data.

Diet and Foraging

Nectar and insects. Forages singly and in pairs. Visits flowers of Delonix elata. Gleans items from small branches; also catches insects in flight.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song consists of rapid sequence of “tsusitiseesee, chuchiti-tsi-tsi-tsi-tsi-sitisee-see-see-see-chitisee” or similar.

Breeding

Egg-laying in Oct in Kenya. Compact ellipsoid nest made of strips of wood, grasses, bark, dried acacia buds and twigs, held together with cobwebs, suspended 2 m above ground near end of small branch of acacia. Clutch 1 egg, matt pale grey, with darker grey blotches and spots concentrated at wider end, superimposed with fine grey-brown spots and speckles. No other information available.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not assessed. Generally not uncommon. Fairly common in Tsavo ­National Park, in Kenya. Possibly present also in S Sudan, S Ethiopia and S Somalia, but whether individuals recorded in those areas are of this species or C. bifasciatus is unresolved; research needed.
Distribution of the Tsavo Sunbird - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Tsavo Sunbird

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Cheke, R. and C. Mann (2020). Tsavo Sunbird (Cinnyris tsavoensis), 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.tsasun1.01
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