Fun Collared Sunbird Facts For Kids

Do you like birds like sunbirds? Then here we have all the information on the collared sunbird. The collared sunbird (Hedydipna collaris) is a beautifully colored small bird species.

This bird is native to countries North, Central, and Southern Africa. The male of this bird species has a glossy green and yellow body, while the female has a full green and yellow body. The male bird also has a purple-colored breast brand.

This breast brand seems to be absent in females. All the birds have a slightly downcurved long bill.

The bill is perfect for taking nectar from flowers, which is one of the main contents of the diet of these birds. These birds are sometimes mistaken for hummingbirds. Even though both birds have a few similarities, they also have a lot of differences that clearly set them apart as two different families of birds.

Read on to know more about the collared sunbird, and if you like this article, then also check out Inca dove facts and tawny owl facts.

Collared Sunbird Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a collared sunbird?

The collared sunbird (Hedydipna collaris) is a species of bird.

What class of animal does a collared sunbird belong to?

The collared sunbird belongs to the class Aves of animals.

How many collared sunbirds are there in the world?

The exact population of these birds is not known. However, it is reported that they are pretty common throughout their habitat range, being even abundant in some places.

Where does a collared sunbird live?

The collared sunbird has nine subspecies under it, and their geographic range differs according to them. However, all the subspecies are known to live in countries and islands of North, Central, and South African countries and islands.

Such as Senegal, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Sudan, Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Bioko Island, Mafia Island, Pemba Island, and more. These birds are mainly sedentary, so they are not known to migrate.

What is a collared sunbird's habitat?

The primary habitat of these birds is known to be woodlands, savannah, and forests. They prefer to stay around open spaces, such as gardens, cultivated lands, and forest clearings or edges. They have been seen to live within an elevation of 1.6 mi (2.6 km).

Who does collared sunbird live with?

Collared sunbirds forage in pairs and familial groups, and these groups have been seen to get together with flocks of mixed-species birds.

How long does a collared sunbird live?

The exact lifespan for these birds is not known. However, sunbirds, in general, have a wide range of longevity. Usually, they live for about two to eight years, but some species are known to live for more than 15 years easily.

How do they reproduce?

The breeding season of the collared sunbirds occurs throughout the year, depending on their geographic range. They are not known to mate for life, and other than forming one male and one female pair, some polygynous and polyandrous groups can also be seen.

Not much is known about the courtship behavior between the male and the female. However, a male will chase away another male from its territory during this time by clicking wings.

Mainly the female builds the nest. After copulation, the female lays about one to four eggs on average.

Generally, the female incubates the eggs for the next 12-14 days on average, but sometimes the male also helps. The female then broods the chicks for the next few days while the male feeds them.

After that, both male and female parents feed the chicks. Chicks leave the nest after around 14-17 days and still stay dependent on the parents for the next 24 days or so.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of this bird species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is listed as Least Concern. These birds are common and sometimes abundant in their habitat range.

Collared Sunbird Fun Facts

What does a collared sunbird look like?

The collared sunbird, found in areas like South Africa, is a small bird. Slight sexual dimorphism can be seen between adult male and female birds.

The upper parts of the adult male birds, along with the head, are glossy green-colored. The belly is yellow-colored, and a purple-colored breast band can be seen.

The female birds have a duller appearance as their upper parts are dull green-colored, while the rest of the body is entirely yellow with no purple breast band. The collared sunbird also has a long, slightly downcurved bill.

How cute are they?

The collared sunbird looks extremely pretty with its beautiful colors. These birds are also not generally aggressive in nature. That surely adds to their cuteness.

How do they communicate?

Generally, a few calls of these birds are loud 'cherreee', 'tsweet-tsweet', 'tsewrew', and 'tserp-tserp'. The in-flight call is a repetitive 'tsk-tsk', and the courtship call is a high-pitched 'chi-chi'. A distinct call of the subspecies, Hedydipna collaris elachior, can be heard starting with 'dzer' and continued with a series of 'tsee-ou'.

How big is a collared sunbird?

An adult collared sunbird is about 4-4.1 in (10-10.5 cm) in length. They are two to three times smaller than rainbow bee-eaters, who are around 9.1-11 in (23.1-27.9 cm) in length.

How fast can a collared sunbird fly?

The speed at which a collared sunbird flies is not known. However, usually, they have been seen to take fast and direct flights with their short wings.

How much does a collared sunbird weigh?

These are small-sized birds. An adult female weighs about 0.2-0.3 oz (5.4-9.7 g), and a male weighs about 0.2-0.4 oz (5.3-11 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

The males are called cocks, and the females are called hens.

What would you call a baby collared sunbird?

A baby collared sunbird is called a chick or a hatchling.

What do they eat?

These birds are omnivorous in nature. They feed on both animal-based food and plant matter.

They mainly feed on different types of insects, nectar from flowers, fruits, snails, spiders, seeds, and more. Their manner of foraging is very similar to tit birds, like long-tailed tits and old-world warblers. They take nectar by hovering over flowers or a flowering plant and can even be seen hanging upside-down when hunting for prey.

Are they dangerous?

Collared sunbirds are not aggressive or dangerous towards humans or otherwise. They might behave aggressively towards birds of their own species when defending their territories.

Would they make a good pet?

Any species of sunbird does not make a good pet. They require a specific environment and diet to survive, which will be difficult to provide in captivity. They also help pollinate many flowers in their habitat range, so taking them away from their natural habitat would also harm the environment.

Did you know...

The female collared sunbirds take about one and a half to seven days to complete the nests. They make these nests with leaf spider webs, dead leaves, grass, seeds, lichen, twigs, leaf mold, fiber, flowers, bark, and more. They line the nests with various vegetable matters and feathers.

What is the difference between hummingbird and sunbird?

The basic difference between sunbirds and hummingbirds would've been that sunbirds don't take a flower's nectar by hovering like hummingbirds, but some species of sunbirds actually do that. Both birds have a long bill suitable for feeding on nectar.

The other few differences are sunbirds are passerines, while hummingbirds are non-passerine birds. Sunbirds are mostly seen in Asia and North, Central, and South Africa, while hummingbirds are known to live within the Americas.

What is the meaning of Sunbird?

Sunbirds belong to the family Nectariniidae of birds. The family is named so due to their diet of nectar.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these North Island brown kiwi facts and northwestern crow facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable exotic bird coloring pages.