Greater Double-collared Sunbird

Ad Male: Head, neck, back, lesser coverts, throat and upper breast iridescent green; lores blackish. Rump olive green, sometimes with a few iridescent green feathers; upper tail coverts iridescent violet-blue. Tail blackish brown, faintly glossed; outer web of T6 edged whitish. Flight feathers and greater coverts blackish brown; median coverts dark brown, tipped green. Axillaries and underwing coverts olive-grey. Pectoral tufts yellow. Broad red breast band ( > 15 mm wide)¹³ separated from green upper breast by narrow, iridescent violet-blue band. Belly olive. Bill black; long, stout and only decurved towards tip. Eyes dark brown. Legs and feet black⁸.

Ad female: Crown, ear coverts and remainder of upper parts drab grey-brown, supercilium slightly paler buffy brown. Tail dark brown; tips of T5 and T6 narrowly edged paler brown. Throat and breast buffy grey-brown, very faintly mottled in some individuals, merging into paler grey-brown belly, flanks and vent. Central belly sometimes faintly washed yellow²⁰.

Juv: As ad female, but with yellow gape flange⁵.

Confusing species: Southern Double-collared Sunbird smaller, with a shorter, more slender and decurved bill. Male has narrower red breast band (< 14 mm)¹³ (but beware juv Greater Double-collared Sunbird which can have a narrow red band when moulting into ad plumage²¹) and bluer (less violet) bands on breast and upper tail coverts; female paler and greyer, with plainer face.

Author:N Smith