About Aethopyga vigorsii (Sykes, 1832)
Vigors's sunbird, also known as the Sahyadri sunbird or western crimson sunbird, has the scientific name Aethopyga vigorsii (Sykes, 1832). This is a species of sunbird endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It was previously treated as a subspecies of the crimson sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja), but differs from that species because it does not have an elongated central tail, and has a restricted, separate distribution. Males of this species have a scarlet throat and breast, while the rest of their underparts are uniformly grey. Their wings are grey-brown, and do not have yellowish-olive edges. They have yellow plumage on the lower back, and a bottle-green tail. Females have dark olive upperparts and grey underparts. Immature males look similar to adult females, but have a dull scarlet throat and breast. This species is distributed mainly across the northern Western Ghats, though individuals have also been reported from the Nilgiris. It was named for Irish-born zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors by Colonel William Henry Sykes.
