Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird

The adult male Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird Aethopyga gouldiae is an incredibly beautiful bird in full breeding plumage. This was the only bird of this species which we saw today out of a total of 12 birds over three days all in the Doi Inthanon National Park. The direction of the sunlight was such that the full colour of the species cannot be seen but several key identification features are visible including: red nape, mantle, upper back and breast; yellow belly, brownish wings, very long tail with elongated central tail feathers. The forehead, crown, sides of face, throat and tail would show as iridescent blue in full sunlight.

Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, India mainly the Himalayas, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It forages at all levels from bushes up to the canopy, feeding on rhododendron and other flowering shrubs and trees.

References: Wikipedia; Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C. and Inskipp, T. (1998) Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, page 804, Christopher Helm (Publishers) Ltd.