Male Black-throated Sunbirds have a black throat and breast, a maroon back, and a purple iridescent head. They use forests and forest edges and feed mainly on nectar.
Males have a black throat and breast, a maroon back, an iridescent purple head and neck, and an elongated blue-purple tail. Belly color differs among subspecies, ranging from greyish olive to grey or yellowish white.
It uses forests and forest edges as well as parks and gardens. It feeds on nectar, but also takes insects and spiders, especially to feed young. In Malaysia, adult birds of subspecies wrayi were observed piercing the base of canna flowers to reach nectar.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.