Orange-breasted sunbird

The orange-breasted sunbird (Anthobaphes violacea) is the sole member of the genus Anthobaphes and is entirely endemic to the fynbos shrubland biome of southwestern South Africa, ranging from the Western Cape to the southwestern Eastern Cape. Males are striking birds with iridescent green, blue, and purple on the head and neck and a vivid orange-to-yellow breast; females are olive-green. The species visits more than 66 Erica (heath) species for nectar and acts as their primary bird pollinator in the fynbos; it also regularly visits Protea and Leucospermum for nectar, making it a keystone pollinator in the Cape Floristic Region. It is an altitudinal migrant that will use parks and gardens containing sufficient fynbos nectar plants, making it a realistic visitor to Cape garden designs that include indigenous heaths and pincushions.

Nectar plants · 5

Strictly endemic to the fynbos biome of South Africa's Western Cape and southwestern Eastern Cape, from Vanrhynsdorp south and east to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth); absent from non-fynbos habitats and from the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. Elevational range sea level to approximately 1,530 m; moves to higher ground during the southern summer in search of flowering plants.