Identifying the Sunbirds of Singapore

Sunbirds are small, brightly coloured birds with bills that are curved downwards and have tubular tongues. 

These adaptations allow them to reach into flowers to access the nectar. While they mostly feed on nectar, invertebrates such as spiders are an important part of their diet as well. Due to their feeding patterns, they also act as pollinators to the flowers that they visit.  

Sunbirds are small passerines, or perching birds, occurring from Africa, Middle East, South Asia, to Indonesia and Northern Australia. Other major bird pollinator families include the hummingbirds in the Americas and honeyeaters in Australia, which have similar adaptations due to convergent evolution. 

This means that the sunbird, hummingbird and honeyeater lineages have independently evolved features of similar form or structure but these features were not present in their last common ancestor.

There are seven species of sunbirds in Singapore, with the most common species being the Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis) and Brown-throated Sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis). The rarest species are the Plain Sunbird (Anthreptes simplex) and Ruby-cheeked Sunbird (Chalcoparia singalensis). 

When visiting our parks and gardens, you may have spotted the pouch-shaped nests of sunbirds. They are constructed from leaves, grass and spider web, enclosed with a side entrance, and suspended from thin branches. Sunbirds are generally monogamous and both parents will work together to raise their young.

When trying to identify the sunbirds in Singapore, try to look at the habitat that the bird is found in. In an urban park, the Olive-backed (Cinnyris jugularis) and Brown-throated (Anthreptes malacensis) Sunbirds are the most commonly-seen species, while the Copper-throated Sunbird (Leptocoma calcostetha) and the Van Hasselt’s Sunbird (Leptocoma brasiliana) can be found in mangroves and forests respectively.

Sunbirds are brightly coloured, sometimes with iridescent feathers, like many species of hummingbirds. They also display sexual dimorphism, which means that the males and females have evolved different colouration. Males usually have distinct colouration, which makes them more easily identifiable. However, females of different sunbird species can look very similar. 

Here are some useful guidelines to help you differentiate between the common sunbird species found in Singapore.

The males of the Van Hasselts’ Sunbird and Copper-throated Sunbird may be easily confused with each other due to their iridescent throats and upper parts. However, the Copper-throated Sunbird is slightly larger and, the easiest distinguishing feature is, it does not have a red breast, unlike the Van Hasselt’s Sunbird. The following table illustrates more distinguishing features of these two species.