Pygmy Sunbird - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Phil Watson
Njau, The Gambia, January 2016

Anthreptes platurus

Identification

Male 9–16 cm (3½-6¼ in); Female 8–9 cm (3-3½)
A very attractive tiny hyperactive Sunbird, the males of which have long tail extensions.

Female
Photo by volker sthamer
Gambella, Ethiopia, December 2010

Africa: Mauritania and Senegal east to Sudan, South Sudan, and perhaps locally in western Ethiopia, south to northern Ivory Coast, northern Nigeria, northern Central African Republic, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northern Uganda; resident in northern part of range, only a breeding visitor to southern portions of range.

This is a monotypic species^[1].

This is one of the four Sunbirds that have recently been moved to the genus Hedydipna from the genus Anthreptes.

Dry savanna woodland, thorn scrub.

Their diet consists of nectar, pollen, petals from acacia trees, insects, ants and spiders.

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2016)

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Pygmy Sunbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Pygmy_Sunbird