Greater Double-collared Sunbird

Greater Double-collared Sunbird

Cinnyris afer

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Kruger National Park

In 3 days <5%

8 Verified sightings at Kruger 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 Kruger National Park?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Greater Double-collared Sunbird sighting in Kruger National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 429th most-seen of the 464 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

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

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Greater Double-collared Sunbird in Kruger National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

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.

Which relatives of the Greater Double-collared Sunbird live in Kruger National Park?

Same genus: Cinnyris

The closest relatives of the Greater Double-collared Sunbird that you can see in Kruger National Park (genus Cinnyris, Cinnyris Sunbirds) are White-breasted Sunbird (about 30%) and Mariqua Sunbird (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

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 Kruger National Park (8 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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