Animalia Life

Cyanomitra verticalis
SUBFAMILY
Nectariniinae
TAXONOMY
Certhia verticalis Linnaeus, 1790, Senegal. Four subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Green-headed olive sunbird, olive-backed sunbird; French: Souimanga а tкte verte; German: Grьnkopf- Nektarvogel; Spanish: Nectarina de Cabeza Verde.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
5.1–5.7 in (13–14.5 cm); male 0.34–0.55 oz (9.7–15.5 g), female 0.38–0.55 oz (10.7–15.5 g). Long bill with shorter tail; head is actually metallic blue. Olive upperparts with gray breast to undertail.
DISTRIBUTION
C. v. boehndorffi: southern Cameroon through inland areas to Angola; C. v. cyanocephala: coasts from mainland Equatorial Guinea to northwest Democratic Republic of the Congo; C. v. verticalis: Senegal to Nigeria; C. v. viridisplendens: southern Sudan and northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo, east to Uganda and northwest Kenya, western Tanzania, northern Malawi, and northeastern Zambia.
HABITAT
Forests and well-wooded savanna, coastal habitats, plantations, and gardens.
BEHAVIOR
Usually forages high in canopy, sometimes in mixed-species flocks. Males may congregate in fruiting trees and defend feeding territories with aggressive displays, including showing pectoral tufts.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Searches leaves and tree bark for insects and also catches insects in flight. Eats small fruits and seeds and oil-palm sap, as well as nectar from wide variety of flowers.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Territorial. Nest globular, made of grass, bark, and fibers woven with cobwebs. Suspended, often over water, and some with long (1.6 ft; 0.5 m) streamers below base. Clutch of two white or pink eggs with dark dots. Both parents feed young.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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