Animal field guide
Olive-backed Sunbird
Cinnyris jugularis
Nectar from a very wide range of native and garden flowers fuels this tiny, fast-moving bird with a long, down-curved bill. It usually perches on stems to feed, and sometimes pierces the base of long flowers to reach the nectar.
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Get AnimalDexOlive-backed Sunbird at a glance
Animal · Southeast Asia · Lowland forest edges · Relatively common
Known for: Olive-green upperparts and bright yellow underparts, Small size, Constant flicking movement between flowers, Short
Animal field guide
Olive-backed Sunbird
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Nectar from a very wide range of native and garden flowers fuels this tiny, fast-moving bird with a long, down-curved bill. It usually perches on stems to feed, and sometimes pierces the base of long flowers to reach the nectar.
Native range
Natural range, not this capture location
Lowland forest edges, mangroves, coastal scrub, plantations, parks and gardens; it is common around villages and towns and scarcer inside dense forest.
Search near meAnimalDex stats
Dominance
18
Speed
47
Size
5
Intelligence
34
Rarity
10%
Total
114
Size scale
STEP 2 · PROVE IT
STEP 3 · BATTLE & FUSE
Understand the animal
Understand the Olive-backed Sunbird
Factual biology first: what this animal is like, where it lives, how it survives, and why those traits exist.
01
Introduction to Olive-backed Sunbird
Nectar from a very wide range of native and garden flowers fuels this tiny, fast-moving bird with a long, down-curved bill. It usually perches on stems to feed, and sometimes pierces the base of long flowers to reach the nectar.
How to identify a Olive-backed Sunbird
- Olive-green upperparts and bright yellow underparts
- Small size, about 10 to 12 centimetres long
- Constant flicking movement between flowers
- Short, rounded dark tail
Why Olive-backed Sunbird are interesting
- Nests are often built on human structures such as wires, lamp fittings and verandas, sometimes very close to people.
- It is the only sunbird found in Australia, where it lives along the coast of north-eastern Queensland.
- Young birds leave the nest when roughly two weeks old and stay with the parents for a while afterwards.
- Males sing a rapid, high-pitched song, often from an exposed perch.
02
Adaptations and biological abilities
03
Why does Olive-backed Sunbird behave this way?
- Olive-green upperparts and bright yellow underparts
- Small size, about 10 to 12 centimetres long
- Constant flicking movement between flowers
- Short, rounded dark tail
Roosts alone on a sheltered twig in dense foliage at night, and during breeding females may spend the night in the nest; feeding runs from dawn to dusk.
04
Why Lowland forest edges?
Habitat: Lowland forest edges, mangroves, coastal scrub, plantations, parks and gardens; it is common around villages and towns and scarcer inside dense forest.
Native range: Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia & Oceania
Native range
Natural range, not this specific capture location.
Lowland forest edges, mangroves, coastal scrub, plantations, parks and gardens; it is common around villages and towns and scarcer inside dense forest.
05
Why this diet?
Mostly nectar, sipped with a long, tubular tongue, plus small insects and spiders picked from leaves or caught in short flights; these give nestlings their protein.
06
Activity, rest, and lifespan
Roosts alone on a sheltered twig in dense foliage at night, and during breeding females may spend the night in the nest; feeding runs from dawn to dusk.
Wild lifespan is not well documented; most individuals probably live only a few years.
07
Olive-backed Sunbird reproduction
The female builds a hanging, pear-shaped nest with a hooded side entrance and a straggly tail. She lays one to three eggs, usually two, and incubates for about two weeks; both parents feed the young.
Males have a glossy metallic blue-black throat and upper breast; females lack it and are plain olive above and yellow below, sometimes with a faint pale line over the eye.
08
Predators, threats, and defense
09
Conservation and rarity
Rarity: Relatively common · 10/100. AnimalDex canonical rarity score: 10/100, maintained by the live indexed species profile.
- Observe from a respectful distance and avoid changing the animal's behavior.
- Do not block feeding, shelter, nesting, or travel routes.
- Use a live camera capture without handling or staging wildlife.
Speak to the animal
Speak to the Olive-backed Sunbird
It answers as itself: ask about how it lives, or bring it something of yours and hear what it would do, from its own Power.
Anonymous: 3/day. Signed-in: 10/day. Pro: 100/day.
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Compare the Olive-backed Sunbird
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Battled in the Arena
No one has taken a Olive-backed Sunbird into an Arena battle yet. Battles players fight with this animal in the AnimalDex app show up here.
Where to find them
Where to find Olive-backed Sunbird
To find Olive-backed Sunbird in the wild, focus on the exact habitat patches that match its body design and daily behavior, not just the broad country where it exists. You usually do better by working one good piece of habitat inside southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia & Oceania than by covering too much ground.
- Quiet marsh edges, reedbeds, river bends, or shallow wetland margins
- Forest edge, canopy gaps, fruiting trees, or shaded trails where cover and food meet
- Headlands, reef edges, island colonies, tidal channels, or productive coastal water
Scientific name
Cinnyris jugularis
Category
Animal
Habitat
Lowland forest edges, mangroves, coastal scrub, plantations, parks and gardens; it is common around villages and towns and scarcer inside dense forest.
Rarity
Relatively common · 10/100
Native range
Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia & Oceania
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