Note on the field identification of Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird Anthreptes neglectus

Following some apparently anomalous observaons in the East Usambaras, Tanzania, I examined skins of Anthreptes sunbirds in the Natural History Museum Bird Section at Tring, Hertfordshire, UK. This showed that the immature plumage of Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird Anthreptes neglectus is misleadingly described by Moreau and Moreau and Mackworth-Praed and Grant. The latter represents the only widely available and otherwise reliable guide to identifying this species, which is restricted to the forests of East Africa. Tom D. Evans