Hunter's Sunbird

Nectarinia hunteri

Other Names

    Souimanga de Hunter   Purpurbürzel-Glanzköpfchen         Nettarinia di Hunter

World: North-eastern Africa from the extreme North-East of Tanzania through Kenya and north-eastern Uganda to southern Sudan, southern and south-eastern Ethiopia and Somalia.

Kenya: Absent from the coastal strip and the South-West, most common in the dry North-East.

Locally common in dry areas it can usually be seen around Lake Baringo and is apparently fairly common at Ndara in Tsavo. It looks very similar to the Scarlet-chested Sunbird but is rarely found in the same area, Hunter's preferring drier areas. The male, above, differs in having a black throat and violet rump. The female, as with most sunbirds is much duller looking, grey-brown above and whitish below and can be distinguished from the female Scarlet-chested by the paler colour and mottling on the throat.