---
title: "Common Scimitarbill"
description: "Rhinopomastus cyanomelas — Birds. The common scimitarbill (Rhinopomastus cyanomelas) is a species of bird in the family Phoeniculidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/common-scimitarbill
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Common Scimitarbill

> Rhinopomastus cyanomelas — Birds. The common scimitarbill (Rhinopomastus cyanomelas) is a species of bird in the family Phoeniculidae.

- Scientific name: *Rhinopomastus cyanomelas*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest), `savanna` (Savanna)
- iNaturalist observations: 993
- Wikidata: [Q1079941](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1079941)
- iNaturalist taxon: [20964](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/20964)

## Names

- en: Common Scimitarbill
- de: Sichelhopf
- es: Abubilla Arbórea Cimitarra
- fr: Irrisor namaquois
- nl: Zuid-Afrikaanse boomhop
- pt: Bico-de-cimitarra
- pl: Czarnodudek większy

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (537), NA (166), BW (41), ZW (33), KE (32), MW (30), TZ (24), UG (18), ZM (14), MZ (13), SZ (8), AO (6)

## Summary

The common scimitarbill (Rhinopomastus cyanomelas) is a species of bird in the family Phoeniculidae.
It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_scimitarbill

## Photo

![Common Scimitarbill](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/common-scimitarbill/medium.jpg)

Photo: Dave Brown · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/64313158

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/common-scimitarbill?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).