Amethyst sunbird
Chalcomitra amethystina
Bird
The amethyst sunbird (Chalcomitra amethystina) is a large sunbird in the family Nectariniidae, with males appearing largely glossy black but showing iridescent amethyst-purple on the crown and throat in good light; females are streaked brown with pale eyebrows. It is native to sub-equatorial Africa, occurring across 19 countries from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo south through Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and into South Africa. The species feeds on nectar from a wide range of tubular-flowered plants including Aloe, Strelitzia, Leonotis, and Protea, and supplements this diet with insects (including emergent termites) and spiders gleaned from foliage. It is an important pollinator in southern African garden and bushveld habitats, and its range has expanded with the spread of wooded suburban gardens.
Conservation
Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN; widespread across sub-equatorial Africa, and the nominate subspecies' range has expanded with the spread of wooded suburban gardens.
Plants in the catalog
Nectar plants · 8
The large hooded flowers are a bird-pollination syndrome, and this is the sunbird whose range best matches the plant’s wide African distribution.
One of the documented sunbird pollinators of Strelitzia, depositing pollen on its feet as it perches to drink.
The scarlet umbel is a bird-pollination signal, and this sunbird’s range across tropical and southern Africa is the best match for the plant’s own.
A widespread southern African nectar feeder whose range covers the Drakensberg populations of this bulb.
A regular visitor at Aloe flowers across southern Africa, and this is one of the tallest and most nectar-rich aloes in that range.
A widespread southern African sunbird recorded at Tecomaria; the shrub flowers over a long season, which suits a nectar feeder that does not migrate.
The amethyst sunbird is documented feeding at Aloe flowers; A. arborescens is a major winter-flowering aloe in its range.
Wild dagga (Leonotis leonurus) is a documented sunbird nectar plant; the amethyst sunbird is among its southern-African pollinators.
Range
Occurs across sub-equatorial Africa in 19 countries: from Gabon and the southern Republic of Congo east through southeastern South Sudan and northwestern Somalia, south through Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, and South Africa. Four to six subspecies are recognised depending on authority (IOC recognises four; Wikispecies and Wikipedia list six). Undertakes seasonal movements to follow flowering resources. Range of the nominate subspecies has expanded with the spread of wooded suburban gardens.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Amethyst sunbird (Chalcomitra amethystina). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/amethyst-sunbird
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
Amethyst sunbird - Wikipedia
Identification of the amethyst crown/throat, the 19-country sub-equatorial range, Least Concern status, and the mixed nectar-and-insect diet.
Leonotis leonurus - Wikipedia
Documents that Leonotis leonurus's tubular orange flowers are adapted to and visited by nectar-feeding sunbirds.
GBIF: Chalcomitra amethystina
GBIF match is exact and accepted for Chalcomitra amethystina in family Nectariniidae.
iNaturalist: Chalcomitra amethystina
iNaturalist returns the active species Chalcomitra amethystina, the amethyst sunbird.