Aethopyga

Aethopyga
Vigors's sunbird from Maharashtra, India
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Nectariniidae
Genus:	Aethopyga Cabanis, 1851
Type species
Certhia siparaja (Crimson sunbird) Raffles, 1822
Species
See text

Aethopyga is a genus of birds in the sunbird family Nectariniidae. Species in this genus are found in South Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of China. Many species such as the grey-hooded sunbird, Apo sunbird, metallic-winged sunbird, handsome sunbird, and Lina's sunbird are endemic to the Philippines.

Taxonomy

The genus Aethopyga was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis. ^[1] The name combines the Ancient Greek aithos meaning "fire" or "burning heat" with pugē meaning "rump". ^[2] The type species was designated as the crimson sunbird by George Robert Gray in 1855. ^{[3] [4]}

Species

The genus contains 21 species: ^[5]

Image	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
	Grey-hooded sunbird	Aethopyga primigenia	Philippines.
	Apo sunbird	Aethopyga boltoni	Philippines
	Tboli sunbird	Aethopyga tibolii	southern Mindanao in the Philippines
	Lina's sunbird	Aethopyga linaraborae	Mindanao in the Philippines
	Flaming sunbird	Aethopyga flagrans	northern Philippines.
	Maroon-naped sunbird	Aethopyga guimarasensis	Philippines (Negros Island, Panay and Guimaras).
	Metallic-winged sunbird	Aethopyga pulcherrima	Philippines.
	Elegant sunbird	Aethopyga duyvenbodei	Indonesia
	Lovely sunbird	Aethopyga shelleyi	Philippines.
	Handsome sunbird	Aethopyga bella	Philippines.
	Mrs. Gould's sunbird	Aethopyga gouldiae	Bangladesh, Bhutan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, India, Vietnam and Southern China.
	Green-tailed sunbird	Aethopyga nipalensis	Indian subcontinent, stretching eastwards into parts of Southeast Asia.
	White-flanked sunbird	Aethopyga eximia	Indonesia.
	Fork-tailed sunbird	Aethopyga christinae	China, Hong Kong, Laos, and Vietnam.
	Black-throated sunbird	Aethopyga saturata	Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam.
	Crimson sunbird	Aethopyga siparaja	India, through Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar to Indonesia and Brunei.
	Magnificent sunbird	Aethopyga magnifica	Negros Island, Panay, Cebu, Tablas Island and Romblon.
	Vigors's sunbird	Aethopyga vigorsii	Western Ghats of India.
	Javan sunbird	Aethopyga mystacalis	Java and Bali, Indonesia.
	Temminck's sunbird	Aethopyga temminckii	Borneo, Sumatra, Malaysia, and south west Thailand
	Fire-tailed sunbird	Aethopyga ignicauda	Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet.

References

1. Cabanis, Jean (1851). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 1. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 103.
2. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 35. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
3. Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 19.
4. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 270.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 25 March 2025.