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Green-headed sunbird
Cyanomitra verticalis
-4.89394, 11.9531
Field Notes
Description:
Medium sized sunbird, approx 15cm in length. Both sexes are brown above and whitish-grey below, with long decurved bill. Male sports a blue-green iridescent "hood", covering its head, nape, neck and throat; down to chest. Female (portrayed in photo N° 3) has greenish glossy crown, nape and cheeks; but not the throat.
Habitat:
Here, we observed Green-headed sunbird on several occasions during our stay in Malonda Lodge, an eco-lodge near Pointe Noire. Lodge itself is on the Atlantic coast; overlooking the sandy beach and shallow but large lagoon. It is also bordering edges of tropical forest, and there is plenty of lush local vegetation (trees and shrubs), inside the compound - I got many of my lifers just inside the compound.
Notes:
Male could be easily confounded with Bannerman's sunbird; whose "hood" is more blueish. Bannerman's is also a bit smaller, and has a shorter bill... all of which is very difficult to estimate in the field - but fortunately, there is a range factor, as their distributions do not overlap; as Bannerman is confined to northern parts of Angola and south-west of RDC; and is not recorded (as far as I'm aware) in Republic of Congo.
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