Found in parts of the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, it is also known as the northern orange-tufted sunbird.

Males have an average weight of 7.6 g and females weigh around 6.8 g. The bill is fairly long, black and curves downwards.

[citation needed] The Middle Eastern subspecies C. o. osea breeds from Israel, Palestine and Jordan in the north, down through western Saudi Arabia to Yemen and Oman in the south.

The expansion of Israeli cities, towns and villages over the last century played a significant role in the spread of the Palestine sunbird throughout the region, with cultivated tropical plants becoming more common in urban gardening.

It is made of leaves, grass and other plant material which is bound together with hair and spider webs and lined with wool and feathers.