Cyanomitra

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Cyanomitra
Eastern Olive Sunbird (Nectarinia olivacea).jpg
Eastern olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Nectariniidae
Genus: Cyanomitra
Reichenbach, 1853
Type species
Certhia cyanocephala [1]
Shaw, 1812
Species

See text

Cyanomitra is a genus of African sunbirds. Its members are sometimes included in Nectarinia .

Contents

The sunbirds are a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time.

Taxonomy

The genus Cyanomitra was introduced in 1853 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. [2] The name combines the Ancient Greek kuanos meaning "dark-blue" with mitra meaning "head-band". [3] The type species was designated by George Robert Gray in 1855 as Certhia cyanocephala Shaw. [4] [5] This taxon is now considered to be a subspecies of the green-headed sunbird (Cyanomitra verticalis cyanocephala''). [6]

Species

The genus contains 7 species: [6]

ImageCommon nameScientific NameDistribution
Greenheadsunbird.jpg Green-headed sunbird Cyanomitra verticalisAngola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
Bannerman's sunbird Cyanomitra bannermaniAngola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.
Cyanomitra cyanolaema.jpg Blue-throated brown sunbird Cyanomitra cyanolaemaAngola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.
Cameroon Sunbird (Cyanomitra oritis).jpg Cameroon sunbird Cyanomitra oritisCameroon, Bioko and eastern Nigeria.
Blue-headed sunbird.jpg Blue-headed sunbird Cyanomitra alinaeBurundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Eastern Olive Sunbird (Nectarinia olivacea).jpg Olive sunbird Cyanomitra olivaceaAfrica south of the Sahel.
Sunbird Grey 2010 07 04 Alan Manson Queen Elizabeth Park.jpg Grey sunbird Cyanomitra veroxiiKenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania.

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References

  1. "Nectariniidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. Reichenbach, Ludwig (1853). "Icones ad synopsin avium No. 11. Scansoriae B". Handbuch der speciellen Ornithologie (in German). Dresden und Leipzig: Expedition Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte. pp. 219–316 [221, 291].
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 127. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 137.
  5. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 223.
  6. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 January 2019.