About Cinnyris regius Reichenow, 1893
The regal sunbird (Cinnyris regius Reichenow, 1893) is a small bird species. Adult males have iridescent golden-green coloring on the head and upper body, dark wings and tail, and a bold pattern of red and yellow across the breast and belly. Adult females have dull olive upperparts, and yellowish, faintly streaked underparts. The male regal sunbird is easy to distinguish, but the female can be confused with females of other related sunbird species. Female Rockefeller's sunbird (Cinnyris rockefelleri) looks similar, but has a paler throat than the female regal sunbird. Females of the Rwenzori double-collared sunbird (Cinnyris stuhlmanni) and the northern double-collared sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi) are also similar, but these species have greener upperparts and yellower underparts. The variable sunbird (Cinnyris venustus) is another similar species, and the regal sunbird can be told apart by its more olive upperparts and more uniform yellowish-olive underparts. This species is distributed across the entire Albertine Rift montane forests, ranging from Uganda to Tanzania. It is found at elevations between 1,500 and 3,100 m (4,900 and 10,200 ft) above sea level. Its habitats include evergreen mountain forest, mixed forest, secondary growth forest, scrubland, and bamboo.
