The ruby-cheeked sunbird is a species of sunbird in the family Nectariniidae.
Region
Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Occurs from southern Myanmar and Thailand through Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, down the Malay Peninsula, and across much of Sundaland including Singapore, Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. It favors lowland and foothill evergreen forest, forest edge, mangroves, swamp forest, and well-vegetated secondary growth. It can also be found in gardens and plantations near forested areas. Typically active in the shaded understory to mid-canopy, moving methodically through foliage while foraging.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The ruby-cheeked sunbird is a small forest sunbird notable for the male’s glowing red cheek patch. Unlike many sunbirds that hover, it typically perches while feeding and often gleans insects from foliage. It frequently joins mixed-species flocks in the forest understory. Nests are purse-shaped and suspended from leaves or thin branches, woven with plant fibers and spider silk.
Temperament
active and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Often forages in pairs and commonly joins mixed-species flocks in the understory. During breeding, pairs build a pendant, purse-like nest suspended from foliage, using plant fibers and spider silk. Both parents typically attend the nest and feed the young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Calls are thin, high-pitched tsee and tsit notes, often given in quick series. The song is a light, tinkling twitter interspersed with sharp chips, carrying softly through dense foliage.
Plumage
Male with olive-green upperparts, yellow to orange-tinged underparts, and a distinct ruby-red cheek patch; female duller olive above with yellowish underparts and lacks the red cheek. Both sexes have a slender, decurved bill and plain wings without bars.
Diet
Takes nectar from a variety of blossoms, usually while perched rather than hovering. Also consumes small arthropods such as insects and spiders, gleaned from leaves, twigs, and flower clusters. Will occasionally sip from cultivated flowers and may take small fruits or plant juices. Its nectar feeding contributes to pollination of forest plants.
Preferred Environment
Feeds mainly in the shaded understory and mid-story of evergreen and secondary forests, as well as mangroves and overgrown edges. Frequently visits flowering shrubs, vines, and low trees, including in forest-edge gardens.
