The maroon-naped sunbird (''Aethopyga guimarasensis'') 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 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 ...

found on the islands of

Negros Island Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral T ...

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...

and

Guimaras Guimaras (), officially the Province of Guimaras (; ), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. The capital is Jordan, while the largest local government unit is the municipality of Buenavista. The provin ...

. 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 lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

Description and taxonomy

Described on

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 ...

as "A small bird of forest and edge from the lowlands to low elevations in the mountains on the western Visayas. Has a fairly long and slightly curved bill, yellow underparts, and olive wings. Male has a black face, throat, and chest, with a purple mustache stripe and a green crown. Male is similar to Olive-backed Sunbird, but has a red spot on the chest and reddish coloration on the upper back and back of the head. The drab female resembles the female Handsome Sunbird, but lacks the yellow rump. Voice includes a jumbled, high-pitched song and a slightly wheezy, high-pitched “tsee-tsee-tsee.” It was previously conspecific with the

Flaming sunbird The flaming sunbird (''Aethopyga flagrans'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is endemic to the northern Philippines found on the islands of Luzon and Catanduanes. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It was ...

but it differs in molecular genetics, a much glossier crown, the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

ous maroon nape and a much brighter yellow belly.

Subspecies

Two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognized: * ''A. g. gumarasensis'' – Found on

and

* ''A. g. daphoenonota'' – Found on

Negros Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Tr ...

; More maroon on its nape and mantle and has more orange on chest than nominate.

Ecology and behavior

Not much is directly known about its diet but often seen feeding on nectar of the non-native

Hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Malva, mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising List of Hibiscus species, several hundred species that are Native plant, native to warm temperate, Subtropics, subtropical ...

and pressumed to feed on insects and even seeds. Typically seen alone or in pairs but also joins mixed-species flocks

Habitat and conservation

Its natural

is moist tropical primary and secondary forest up to 1,350 meters above sea level.

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has assessed this bird as

least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

but with a declining population. This species' main threat is

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 ...

with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range.

is one of the most deforested areas in the country due to its sugar industry and logging with most of its forests being totally lost before the 21st century. Forest cover on

and

is just 3% and 6% respectively and these figures are still declining. It occurs in a few protected areas within Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park and

Northern Negros Natural Park The Northern Negros Natural Park is a protected area of the Philippines located in the northern mountainous forest region of the island of Negros in the Visayas. It is spread over five municipalities and six cities in the province of Negros Occide ...

; however, protection and enforcement against deforestation is lax. It also occurs in the proposed Central Panay Mountain Range Park which contains the largest block of remaining forest in the

Western Visayas Western Visayas (; ; ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. The region comprises the islands of Panay and Guimaras Island, Guimaras. It consists of five Provinces of the ...

, and the tourist destination of Twin Lakes (Mount Talinis). Both sites benefit from conservation funding but are still under threat by deforestation.

References

maroon-naped sunbird Birds of Negros Island Birds of Panay Fauna of Guimaras maroon-naped sunbird maroon-naped sunbird Endemic birds of the Philippines {{Nectariniidae-stub