Metallic-winged sunbird

Metallic-winged sunbird
ssp. jefferyi
ssp. pulcherrima
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Nectariniidae
Genus:	Aethopyga
Species:	A. pulcherrima
Binomial name
Aethopyga pulcherrima Sharpe, 1876

The metallic-winged sunbird (Aethopyga pulcherrima) is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is endemic to the Philippines.

Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests and tropical moist montane forests.

Description and taxonomy

Ebird describes it as "A small bird with a fairly long, curved bill of lowland and foothill forest and forest edge in the Philippines. Male has bluish-green iridescence on the forehead, cheek, and shoulder, and a yellow throat and chest with an orange smudge. Female is washed-out yellow below with a whitish throat. Similar to Lina’s Sunbird, but male has a shorter, rounded green tail and olive rather than blue flight feathers, and the female lacks the gray head, streaked chest, and reddish belly. Female also similar to female Handsome Sunbird, but has a dark green tail. Voice includes a high-pitched jumbled song and an upslurred, high-pitched “chuit!”

The metallic-winged sunbird was formally described in 1876 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe based on specimens collected on the island of Basilan by members of an expedition to the Philippines led by the American ornithologist Joseph Beal Steere. Sharpe coined the binomial name Aethopyga pulcherrima, ^{[2] [3]} where the specific epithet is from Latin pulcherrimus meaning "very beautiful". ^[4]

Three subspecies are recognised: ^[5]

• A. p. pulcherrima Sharpe, 1876 – Eastern Visayas and Mindanao group (central, south Philippines, formerly called the Mindanao sunbird); irridiscent blue only on shoulder
• A. p. jefferyi (Ogilvie-Grant, 1894) – montane Luzon (north Philippines, formerly considered as a separate species, the Luzon sunbird); irridiscent blue encompasses the entire wing and rump
• A. p. decorosa (McGregor, 1907) – Bohol (central south Philippines, formerly considered as a separate species, the Bohol sunbird); irridiscent blue encompasses the entire wing and rump but much paler than the Luzon sunbird

Habitat and conservation status

Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests and tropical moist montane forests up to 2,000 meters above sea level although the altitudes differ per subspeces. The Bohol and Mindanao sunbirds were more often seen in lowlands while the Luzon sunbird is only recorded above 900 meters above sea level.

It is assessed as a Least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as it is fairly common in its range and tolerant of disturbed habitat. ^[6]

References

1. BirdLife International (2018). "Aethopyga pulcherrima". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22718065A131982594. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22718065A131982594.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. Sharpe, R. Bowdler (1876). "Prof. Steere's expedition to the Philippines". Nature. 14 (353): 297–298. Bibcode:1876Natur..14..297S. doi:10.1038/014297a0.
3. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 272.
4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 324. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
6. Kirwan, Guy M.; Cheke, Robert; Mann, Clive (2023). "Metallic-winged Sunbird (Aethopyga pulcherrima), version 1.0". Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.mewsun3.01. ISSN   2771-3105.