Greater Double-collared Sunbird

Greater Double-collared Sunbird

Cinnyris afer

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Addo Elephant National Park

In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%

379 Verified sightings at Addo Elephant National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,422 In all 5 parks
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Greater Double-collared Sunbird

The greater double-collared sunbird (Cinnyris afer) is a small bird in the sunbird family. It was formerly placed in genus Nectarinia. The sunbird breeds in southern, eastern and northeastern South Africa and Eswatini. It is mainly resident, but partly migratory in the northeast of its range. It is common in gardens, fynbos, forest edges and coastal scrub.

This sunbird is 14 cm long and exhibits a clear sexual dimorphism. The adult male has a glossy, metallic green head, throat upper breast and back. It has a broad brilliant red band across the chest, separated from the green breast by a narrow metallic blue band. The rest of the underparts are pale grey. When displaying, yellow feather tufts can be seen on the shoulders. The plumage on the female is pale grey, darker in the wings. As with other sunbirds the bill is long and decurved. The bill, legs and feet are black. The eye is dark brown. The male can be distinguished from the similar lesser double-collared sunbird by the latter's smaller size, narrower red chest band and shorter bill. The call is a hard chut-chut-chut, and the song is a high pitched jumble of tweets and twitters... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Recording0:22

South Africa · 2023

© Drew Davison · XC862275 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song1:26

South Africa · 2022

© Lynette Rudman · XC731568 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:27

South Africa · 2016

© Tim Cockcroft · XC324023 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Garden Route National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~50%
2 Addo Elephant National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~40%
3 Golden Gate Highlands National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
4 De Hoop Nature Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
5 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Durban 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
2 Johannesburg 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Birds of Eden 🇿🇦 South Africa In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Greater Double-collared Sunbird in Addo Elephant National Park?

Likely

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Greater Double-collared Sunbird sighting in Addo Elephant National Park on a given day, based on 379 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 18th most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Greater Double-collared Sunbird in Addo Elephant National Park?

July

In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Greater Double-collared Sunbird in Addo Elephant National Park on a given day, against about 20% in April, the lowest month.

What time of day is best to see a Greater Double-collared Sunbird?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Greater Double-collared Sunbird sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Addo Elephant National Park the best place to see a Greater Double-collared Sunbird?

2nd of 5

Of the 5 parks where we can rate Greater Double-collared Sunbird sightings, Addo Elephant National Park ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in Garden Route National Park (South Africa, about 50%).

Where does the Greater Double-collared Sunbird sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Greater Double-collared Sunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Addo Elephant National Park (379 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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