Olive sunbird
Cyanomitra olivacea (A. Smith, 1840)
The olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea) is a species in the family Nectariniidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 9.65 g to 11.2 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the olive sunbird
- Weight
- 9.65 g – 11.2 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 15 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.4 – 1.7src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the olive sunbird live?
Not recorded
What is the olive sunbird?
The olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea) is a large African species of sunbird belonging to the family Nectariniidae which encompasses species of sunbirds, spiderhunters, and flowerpeckers, and sugarbirds.
It has a large distribution that spans across central Africa from western countries including Senegal, Guinea, and Angola towards eastern countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mozambique. This range also extends to southern African countries including South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is mainly nectarivorous and lives in a variety of forest, scrubland, and modified habitats.
From the Wikipedia article “Olive sunbird” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Olive_sunbird&oldid=1380715750), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the olive sunbird endangered?
The olive sunbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the olive sunbird classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyNectariniidae
- genusCyanomitra
- SpeciesCyanomitra olivacea (A. Smith, 1840)
Synonyms Cinnyris olivaceus, Haagneria olivacea, Nectarinia olivacea
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- Eastern olive sunbirdEnglish
- OLSUEnglish
- OlyfsuikerbekkieAfrikaans
- suimanga olivaciCatalan
- strdimil olivovýCzech
- strdimil proužkohrdlýCzech
- aderyn haul melynwyrddWelsh
- OlivensolfuglDanish
- OlivnektarvogelGerman
- oliveca nektarinioEsperanto
- Suimanga oliváceoSpanish
- Suimanga Oliváceo OrientalSpanish
- oliiviselkämedestäjäFinnish
- Nectarin olivâtreFrench
- Souimanga olivâtreFrench
- tamnokapi medosasCroatian
- olajzöld nektármadárHungarian
- Nettarinia olivaceaItalian
- Nettarinia oliva orientaleItalian
- オリーブタイヨウチョウJapanese
- rytinė gelsvoji nektarinaLithuanian
- ØstolivensolfuglNorwegian Bokmål
- olijfgroene honingzuigerDutch
- nektarnik oliwkowyPolish
- beija-flor-oliváceoPortuguese
- nectarínia-oliváceaPortuguese
- Sibi-barbeiro-grandePortuguese
- Оливковая нектарницаRussian
- nektárovka olivováSlovak
- Maslinasta sunčicaSerbian
- olivsolfågelSwedish
- Zeytuni NektarkuşuTurkish
- нектарик оливковийUkrainian
- 绿花蜜鸟Chinese
- 東方綠花蜜鳥Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the olive sunbird
Other species in the same genus Cyanomitra.
Gray sunbird
Cyanomitra veroxii
Green-headed sunbird
Cyanomitra verticalis
Blue-headed sunbird
Cyanomitra alinae
Blue-throated brown sunbird
Cyanomitra cyanolaema
Cameroon sunbird
Cyanomitra oritis
Bannerman's sunbird
Cyanomitra bannermani
CompareOlive sunbird vs Gray sunbirdOlive sunbird vs Green-headed sunbirdOlive sunbird vs Blue-headed sunbirdOlive sunbird vs Blue-throated brown sunbird
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the olive sunbird?
An adult olive sunbird weighs 9.65 g – 11.2 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the olive sunbird endangered?
The olive sunbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the olive sunbird?
The olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea) belongs to the family Nectariniidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/olive-sunbird
“Olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/olive-sunbird.
@misc{olive_sunbird_2026,
title = {Olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/olive-sunbird},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}