6 thoughts on “Banded Sunbird (Anthreptes rubritorques)”
This assessment looks relevant with all the detailed justification and the provided evidences. Well done and thank you very much for compiling all that kind of information.
Just to add; in October/November 2025, a team from Nature Tanzania (Edwin Kamugisha and Alpha Mfilinge) gathered some information of Banded Sunbird during the biodiversity assessment at Amani Nature Forest Reserve, which covered the forest and farmland habitats.
The Banded Sunbird was observed in 5 out of 60 sampled points in farmlands and in 2 out of 60 sampled points in the forest. These observations were recorded in 50m radius points along 12 transects with a minimum of 1km and maximum of 4km (6 transects in farmlands and 6 transects in the forest).
The background research done on this species is pretty thorough, so well done. I have minor comments and suggestions:
In recent years (last 10), I have more experience of this species in the East and West Usambara Mts than in the southern part of its range. We have it recorded in our census data (600 fixed points) from the landscape mosaic of plantations, agricultural farmland and forest cover at different levels of disturbance from Amani Nature Forest Reserve to Nilo Nature Forest Reserve in the East Usambaras. I agree with the comments that there is a HIGH dependency on mature old growth trees and where it does overspill into farmland/plantations, extensive forests is always close by. It can breed in disturbed tracts, forest edge, plantations but recent observations, as anecdotal as they may be, indicate that the African Harrier Hawk is likely a major predator of fledglings in these habitats. My observations over the last 25 years suggest that this raptor may have increased in the highlands (around Amani at the least).
As to the sunbird, it is important to add It occurs deep in forest in the canopy, feeds in mixed species flocks, and is also found in large forest glades, where if its vocalisations are known, it can be more regularly located. Sadly, we have yet to analyse our census data to verify its abundance in forest versus forest edge/disturbed forest/adjacent mixed plantations/farmland.
I am unsure why in the justification section on subpopulation structure, the East and West Usambaras are not considered as separated. They are separated by the Lwengera Valley (they are not one unit or one range, and have some clear biogeographic and evolutionary distinctions). Please consider these as separate subpopulations.
I would also ask what you consider a subpopulation as that is not clear from the documentation. For example, the Udzungwa Mts is not one unit of continuous forest cover. If you take a look at Dinesen et al (2020: https://www.ajol.info/index.php/scopus/article/download/198334/187017) you will note that they have 4 different and separated locations of this sunbird species, and one can therefore split the Udzungwas into 4 subpopulations (more argument for justified down-listing to near-threatened).
As a final note, it is really good to read the new information about the study by Nature Tz towards the end of 2025.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 2 February 2026. We will now analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List category on this page on 2 February 2026, when discussions will re-open.
We thank Norbert for these helpful comments and observations. The African Harrier-Hawk cannot be considered a threat in the assessment as it is a natural predator of the species. We are happy to provide further clarification on the species’ use of forest interior habitat, including its occurrence in the canopy, mixed-species flocks, and large forest glades.
Regarding subpopulations, the IUCN defines them as follows: “Subpopulations are defined as geographically or otherwise distinct groups in the population between which there is little demographic or genetic exchange (typically one successful migrant individual or gamete per year or less).” On this basis, we will recognise the East and West Usambara populations as separate subpopulations, divided by the Lwengera Valley. In the Udzungwas, recognising four separate subpopulations would require the areas to be almost completely isolated. As these forests are relatively close together and lack clear dispersal barriers such isolation is uncertain but we feel this uncertainty is captured by the range of 5-10 subpopulations.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2026 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classification outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 8 February 2026, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2026 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites later this year, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and a final decision on this species’ Red List category will be posted on this page on 16 February 2026.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Banded Sunbird is recommended to be listed as Near Threatened, approaching thresholds under Criterion C2a(i).
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the 2026.1 GTB Forum process. The final Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites later this year, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
This assessment looks relevant with all the detailed justification and the provided evidences. Well done and thank you very much for compiling all that kind of information.
Just to add; in October/November 2025, a team from Nature Tanzania (Edwin Kamugisha and Alpha Mfilinge) gathered some information of Banded Sunbird during the biodiversity assessment at Amani Nature Forest Reserve, which covered the forest and farmland habitats.
The Banded Sunbird was observed in 5 out of 60 sampled points in farmlands and in 2 out of 60 sampled points in the forest. These observations were recorded in 50m radius points along 12 transects with a minimum of 1km and maximum of 4km (6 transects in farmlands and 6 transects in the forest).
The background research done on this species is pretty thorough, so well done. I have minor comments and suggestions:
In recent years (last 10), I have more experience of this species in the East and West Usambara Mts than in the southern part of its range. We have it recorded in our census data (600 fixed points) from the landscape mosaic of plantations, agricultural farmland and forest cover at different levels of disturbance from Amani Nature Forest Reserve to Nilo Nature Forest Reserve in the East Usambaras. I agree with the comments that there is a HIGH dependency on mature old growth trees and where it does overspill into farmland/plantations, extensive forests is always close by. It can breed in disturbed tracts, forest edge, plantations but recent observations, as anecdotal as they may be, indicate that the African Harrier Hawk is likely a major predator of fledglings in these habitats. My observations over the last 25 years suggest that this raptor may have increased in the highlands (around Amani at the least).
As to the sunbird, it is important to add It occurs deep in forest in the canopy, feeds in mixed species flocks, and is also found in large forest glades, where if its vocalisations are known, it can be more regularly located. Sadly, we have yet to analyse our census data to verify its abundance in forest versus forest edge/disturbed forest/adjacent mixed plantations/farmland.
I am unsure why in the justification section on subpopulation structure, the East and West Usambaras are not considered as separated. They are separated by the Lwengera Valley (they are not one unit or one range, and have some clear biogeographic and evolutionary distinctions). Please consider these as separate subpopulations.
I would also ask what you consider a subpopulation as that is not clear from the documentation. For example, the Udzungwa Mts is not one unit of continuous forest cover. If you take a look at Dinesen et al (2020: https://www.ajol.info/index.php/scopus/article/download/198334/187017) you will note that they have 4 different and separated locations of this sunbird species, and one can therefore split the Udzungwas into 4 subpopulations (more argument for justified down-listing to near-threatened).
As a final note, it is really good to read the new information about the study by Nature Tz towards the end of 2025.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 2 February 2026. We will now analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List category on this page on 2 February 2026, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
We thank Norbert for these helpful comments and observations. The African Harrier-Hawk cannot be considered a threat in the assessment as it is a natural predator of the species. We are happy to provide further clarification on the species’ use of forest interior habitat, including its occurrence in the canopy, mixed-species flocks, and large forest glades.
Regarding subpopulations, the IUCN defines them as follows: “Subpopulations are defined as geographically or otherwise distinct groups in the population between which there is little demographic or genetic exchange (typically one successful migrant individual or gamete per year or less).” On this basis, we will recognise the East and West Usambara populations as separate subpopulations, divided by the Lwengera Valley. In the Udzungwas, recognising four separate subpopulations would require the areas to be almost completely isolated. As these forests are relatively close together and lack clear dispersal barriers such isolation is uncertain but we feel this uncertainty is captured by the range of 5-10 subpopulations.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2026 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classification outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 8 February 2026, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2026 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites later this year, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and a final decision on this species’ Red List category will be posted on this page on 16 February 2026.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Banded Sunbird is recommended to be listed as Near Threatened, approaching thresholds under Criterion C2a(i).
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the 2026.1 GTB Forum process. The final Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites later this year, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.