Black Sunbird (Leptocoma aspasia) [XC195398]
by Brian Cox from Jalan Logging Besar, East Morotai, Morotai Island, North Maluku, Indonesia (call, song?)
Black Sunbird (Leptocoma aspasia) [XC140393]
by Bas van Balen from Amamapare, Freeport, Papua, Indonesia (song)
Subspecies
Possibly forms a superspecies with Purple-throated Sunbird (Leptocoma sperata). Considerable geographical variation chiefly in gloss colour of males, but an east-west cline in some characters apparent in central parts of range (involving subspecies auriceps, aspasioides, mariae and cochrani). Subspecies corinna and vicina not particularly well marked, and could perhaps be included in nominate.
Other proposed subspecies are tonkeana (from eastern Sulawesi), included in porphyrolaema; morotensis (Morotai, off northern Halmahera), merged with auriceps; olympia (Misool, in West Papuan Is), in cochrani; bergmanni (Adi I, off southern Bomberai Peninsula, in western New Guinea), included in nominate; and chlorocephala (Wokam, in Aru Is), synonymized with aspasioides. Proposed name jobiensis (Yapen I, in Geelvink Bay), is older than salvadorii, but appears to have been based on specimens of nominate sericeus, and may in any case have to be considered a nomen oblitum. Material for salvadorii may have come not from Yapen but from nearby Mios Num and further study is required. Junior synonym theresia was formerly used as new name for chlorolaema, which was erroneously believed preoccupied.
The following 24 subspecies are recognised:
grayi (Wallace, 1865) - Northern Sulawesi, including small islands of Manadotua, Bangka and Lembeh.
porphyrolaema (Wallace, 1865) - Sulawesi (except north), including Togian Is, Muna, Butung and Labuan Blanda.
sangirensis (Meyer, AB, 1874) - Islands of Sangihe, Siau and Ruang (north of Sulawesi).
talautensis (Meyer, AB & Wiglesworth, 1894) - Talaud Is (north-east of Sulawesi).
auriceps (Gray, GR, 1861) - Tifore, Morotai, Halmahera, Ternate, Mare, Makian, Bacan, Obi, Damar, Muor and, Gebe. Also archipelagos of Banggai and Sula (off eastern Sulawesi).
auricapilla (Mees, 1965) - Kayoa I (off western Halmahera).
cochrani (Stresemann & Paludan, 1932) - West Papuan Is (Waigeo, Misool).
mariae (Ripley, 1959) - Kofiau I (north of Misool).
proserpina (Wallace, 1863) - Buru I.
aspasioides (Gray, GR, 1861) - Seram, Ambon, Nusa Laut, Watubela Is and Aru Is.
chlorolaema (Salvadori, 1874) - Kai Is.
sericea (Lesson & Garnot, 1828) - New Guinea (including islands of Manam, Karkar, Adi, Gag), except south-east.
maforensis (Meyer, AB, 1874) - Numfor I (in Geelvink Bay), in north-western New Guinea.
mysorensis (Meyer, AB, 1874) - Biak I (in Geelvink Bay) and Schouten Is (off north-central New Guinea).
nigriscapularis (Salvadori, 1876) - Meos Num and Rani I (in Geelvink Bay).
salvadorii (Shelley, 1877) - Yapen I (in Geelvink Bay).
veronica (Mees, 1965) - Liki I, off north-western New Guinea.
cornelia (Salvadori, 1878) - Tarawai I, off central-northern New Guinea.
corinna (Salvadori, 1878) - Northern Bismarck Archipelago (except Feni Is).
eichhorni (Rothschild & Hartert, 1926) - Feni I, east of New Ireland.
caeruleogula (Mees, 1965) - Umboi I and New Britain.
vicina (Mayr, 1936) - South-eastern New Guinea.
christianae (Tristram, 1889) - Trobriand Is, D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago, Marshall Bennett Group, Woodlark I and Louisiade Archipelago, off south-eastern New Guinea.
aspasia (Lesson, R & Garnot, 1828) - Mainland New Guinea, Yapen I. and various minor offshore islands.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet