Variable Sunbird Cinnyris venustus Scientific name definitions

10–11 cm; 5–10 g. Male nominate race has front half of crown metallic purple, lores black, rest of crown, ear-coverts, throat, neck and upperparts, including lesser and median upperwing-coverts, metallic green, uppertail-coverts metallic blue (green in some lights); remiges and greater upperwing-coverts brown, greater coverts, primary coverts and alula finely edged metallic green when fresh, black tail edged metallic blue or green, outer two feather pairs tipped pale grey; chin and upper breast metallic purple, latter fusing with unglossy black area at lower border, otherwise pale yellow below, pectoral tufts yellow and scarlet (sometimes only yellow), undertail-coverts white, tinged yellow, underwing-coverts white, axillaries pale yellow or white; iris dark brown; bill and legs black. Non-breeding male may retain metallic feathers on chin, throat, upper breast, lesser wing-coverts and uppertail-coverts and a few on back, otherwise resembles female but more olive-brown; some populations may lack eclipse plumage. Female is smaller than male, has crown and upperparts grey-brown, tinged olive on rump and lesser wing-coverts, wing darker, rectrices black, tinged glossy green, with whitish tips, broadest on outer pair of feathers, which also with pale outer webs; chin and throat whitish, otherwise pale yellow below, underwing-coverts and axillaries white with yellow tinge; bare parts as male. Immature male is as adult female, but throat and breast with dusky markings, appearing as dark streak on throat, and no pale tips on outer tail feathers. Race albiventris male has white abdomen, female grey-brown above, faint streaking on throat and breast, off-white below; falkensteini male is deeper yellow below than nominate, eclipse plumage (not acquired by all males) more like breeding (only 10–20% of metallic feathers lost, dusky feathers present on crown and chest), immature at end of first year acquires plumage with only 50–80% of full metallic complement, becoming fully adult after third moult (at end of second year); fazoqlensis male resembles previous, but has metallic green, not purple-blue, on throat above purple breast; igneiventris male differs in having orange-scarlet in centre of chest, scarlet pectoral tufts.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Thornbush savanna, brachystegia (Brachystegia) woodland, forest, forest edge, wooded ravines, farmland, parks, open coastal habitats, mangroves, coconut plantations, inselbergs, montane savanna, slopes with proteas (Protea), also in gardens in urban areas; generally in moister and more wooded areas in S part of range. Lowlands and mountains; to 2700 m in Rwenzori Mts (DRCongo-Uganda).

Variously resident, nomadic and migratory, but movements unclear. Ascends to higher altitudes during droughts in Zimbabwe, where one ringing recovery showed movement of 25 km. Resident on coast in Nigeria but absent in other S habitats there during Apr–Oct, when occurs in N Nigeria. Present Gabon Mar–Oct.

Nectar, insects, and spiders (Araneae). Forages singly, in pairs and in small groups; joins mixed-species flocks. Visits variety of flowers, including those of Acacia sieberiana, Acrocarpus fraxinifolius, Aloe, Albizia coriara, Berlinia grandiflora, Callistemon citrinus, Combretum mozambicensis, Erythrina humeana, Faurea speciosa, Grevillea banksii, Grewia similis, Halleria lucida, Hibiscus, Jacaranda mimosifolia, Kniphofia, Leonotis mollissima, Parkia filicoidea, Protea, Prunus, Symphonia globulifera, Tecoma, Thevetia peruviana, and mistletoes (Loranthaceae). Mistletoes include e.g. Tapinanthus globiferus, closed flowers of which the bird itself opens in order to reach the nectar. Gleans leaves for insects, and probes and hovers in front of flowers; catches insects on the wing. Drinks from birdbaths.

Song consists of repetitions of a sequence of 3–4 “te-tch-weee” notes followed by fast trilling of up to 15 “ch” notes, sometimes preceding high-pitched warble of rapid ascending and descending notes. Subsong of “tsrrr” trill followed by “tschi-pu”. Calls include “chip-chip”, “chop tsee-tsk-tsk”, “tser-tze-zip” and “tew-tew-tew”; “cheer-cheer” or “tshwee, tshwee, tshwee” alarm calls.

Laying recorded in Mar in Gambia, Oct in Sierra Leone, Dec in Liberia, Jul in Togo, Oct–Jan in Nigeria, Nov–Jan Sudan, Jun in Eritrea and Apr–Oct Ethiopia, Aug–Sept in DRCongo, Feb–Mar and Sept–Oct in Uganda, all months (peaks Jan, May and Jul) in Tanzania, Apr and Jul–Oct in Zambia, Feb–Aug and Dec in Malawi, Jan–Dec in Zimbabwe and Apr–Sept in Mozambique; sometimes double-brooded. Female does bulk of nest-building, male helping occasionally, task taking 10–20 days, nest an untidy flimsy oval with porch, sometimes short “beard”, made variously from grass, reeds, rootlets, fibres, flowers, leaves and cobwebs, lined with vegetable down or feathers, placed 0·9–2 m up in creeper, bush or small tree. Clutch 1–3 eggs, matt white to grey-green or grey-white, very densely speckled with ash-brown, brown, fawn, greyish or purple-grey spots, concentrated at wider end; incubation by female, period c. 2 weeks; chicks fed by both sexes, nestling period 18 days. Nests parasitized by Klaas’s Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx klaas).

Not globally threatened. Common over most of its geographical range; rare in extreme S. Occurs in a number of protected areas in most parts of range.