Lesser Green Leafbird

Chloropsis cyanopogon

Family: Leafbirds · Status: Very rare resident · Size: 16–19 cm · Conservation: Near Threatened

Range

Resident across the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo.

Identification

Male all green with black face and and cobalt-blue flash along throat, female and juvenile are all green. Smaller and slimmer billed than Greater Green Leafbird. In males, extent of black mask is usually, but not always, limited compared to Greater Green Leafbird (extending to half the eye in Lesser Green Leafbird but covering the eye in Greater Green Leafbird). Female and juvenile distinguished from Greater Green Leafbird by lack of yellow eye ring. Blue-winged Leafbird is readily told by its conspicuous blue wing panel and blue sides to the tail.

Habitat

Canopy and edges of lowland evergreen and peat-swamp forest; also well-grown secondary forest.

Behaviour

Forages alone or in pairs in the canopy for fruits, arthropods, and nectar; often joins mixed-species insectivore flocks.