Lina's sunbird (''Aethopyga linaraborae'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Nectariniidae Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly i ...

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to mountains in the island of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It is one of the most striking

sunbird Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly i ...

s in the country with the male having an iridescent blue color and an orange spot on its yellow breast. It is named after Dioscoro S. Rabor's wife, Lina who would assist Dioscoro on expeditions. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

above 1000m. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Description

Aethopyga linaraborae 2009 stamp of the Philippines

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

describes the bird as "A small, localized bird of montane forest in eastern Mindanao. Has a long, curved bill, an olive back, an orange mark in the middle of the chest and a bluish tail with white tips. Male has an iridescent blue crown, cheek, and wing, a green shoulder and rump, yellow underparts, and a small orange patch in front of the shoulder. Female has faint streaking on the underparts, a gray head, and golden-olive wings. Similar to

Metallic-winged sunbird The metallic-winged sunbird (''Aethopyga pulcherrima'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests and tropical moist montane forests. This species ...

, but male has a blue wing and female a gray head. Voice includes a high-pitched jumbled song, a series of sharp 'chik!' notes, and an upslurred high-pitched whistle." This species was formerly conspecific with the

Apo sunbird The Apo sunbird (''Aethopyga boltoni'') is a species of bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae. It is Endemism, endemic to the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.It is found in tropical moist montane forests above 1,500 meters above sea level ...

but was split by Robert Kennedy, Pedro Gonzales and Hector Miranda in 1997. They decided to name this species after Lina Rabor whose husband is Dioscoro Rabor who is known for as the "Father of Philippine Biology and Conservation" and described 69 bird species

Ecology and behavior

This species has not yet been comprehensively studied. It is presumed to have a typical sunbird diet of primarily nectar and supplemented with the occasional insect. Males in breeding condition with enlarged testes have been collected n May but this is not yet fully understood.

Habitat and conservation status

It occupies montane mossy forest from 970 to 2,000 m and above in the mountains of Eastern Mindanao. IUCN has assessed this bird as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

making it the only Philippine sunbird that is not assessed as least concern as it r. It is restricted toDespite its limited range, it is said to be locally common in its range. As it occurs in rugged and inaccessible mountains, this has allowed a large portion of its habitat to remain intact. However, there it is still affected by

through deforestation, mining,

land conversion Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways, such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpo ...

and

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...

- just not to the same extent as lowland forest. Mt. Tagubud in New Bataan, where it is mainly seen by

birdwatchers Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

, has faced considerable

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

References

Lina's sunbird Birds of Mindanao Lina's sunbird Lina's sunbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Nectariniidae-stub Endemic birds of the Philippines