Garden sunbird

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Garden sunbird
Olive-backed Sunbird male, Misamis Oriental, Philippines 1.jpg
Olive-backed Sunbird female, Misamis Oriental, Philippines 1.jpg
Adult male and female, Philippines
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Nectariniidae
Genus: Cinnyris
Species:
C. jugularis
Binomial name
Cinnyris jugularis
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms
  • Certhia jugularisLinnaeus, 1766
  • Nectarinia jugularis(Linnaeus, 1766)

The Olive-Backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis), is a species of passerine bird in the family Nectariniidae that is found from South China across South-East Asia, the Phillipines, Indonesia, North-Eastern Australia and the Solomon Islands. It is a small, brightly coloured bird with olive-green plumage on the wings and back with a bright yellow chest. It has a long downward-curved bill it uses for taking nectar and capturing insects. It is primarily necatarivorous, but will take insects and spiders, particularly when feeding chicks.

Contents

Taxonomy

In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the olive-backed sunbird in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in the Philippines. He used the French name Le petit grimpereau des Philippines and the Latin Certhia Philippensis Minor. [2] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. [3] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. [3] One of these was the olive-backed sunbird. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Certhia jugularis and cited Brisson's work. [4] The specific name jugularis is Medieval Latin for 'of the throat'. [5] This species is now placed in the genus Cinnyris that was introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1816. [6] [7]

The olive-backed sunbird formerly included 21 subspecies and had a range that extended from Southeast Asia to Australia. Based on the difference in the male plumage and a genetic study comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences of some of the subspecies, the olive-backed sunbird was split into eight species. [8] [7] The seven new species are: ornate sunbird (Cinnyris ornatus), Palawan sunbird (Cinnyris aurora), Sahul sunbird (Cinnyris frenatus), Tukangbesi sunbird (Cinnyris infrenatus), Flores Sea sunbird (Cinnyris teysmanni), South Moluccan sunbird (Cinnyris clementiae) and Mamberamo sunbird (Cinnyris idenburgi). [7]

Three subspecies are now recognised: [7]

Description

They are small songbirds, 10–11.4 cm (3.9–4.5 in); male 6.7–11.9 g (0.24–0.42 oz), female 6–10 g (0.21–0.35 oz). [9] The male in its nominate (jugularis) form displays an olive hue on its upper body, featuring black wing feathers with green edges and a black tail adorned with white tips. The areas around its eyes (lores), neck, chin, throat, and breast are dark and iridescent, accompanied by yellow pectoral tufts. The lower portion of the bird is dark yellow, sometimes with a brown band encircling the gorget area. The iris is dark brown, while its bill and legs are black. Non-breeding males often have the glossy black coloration limited to the central throat stripe, which may represent juvenile birds transitioning to their adult plumage.

In contrast, the female exhibits an upper body of greenish olive, featuring a pale-yellowish stripe above the eyes ( supercilium ), yellowish borders on its wing feathers, a tail with black and white markings, and a deep yellow color on the lower portion of its body, slightly lighter on the undertail feathers. Juvenile birds resemble the female but tend to be paler and browner in appearance.

Male (subspecies jugularis), showing it's iridescent throat PHILIPPINE OLIVE-BACKED SUNBIRD.jpg
Male (subspecies jugularis), showing it's iridescent throat

Distribution and habitat

The olive-backed sunbird is found in Southern China, across South-East Asia, the Phillipines, Indonesia, Queensland and Northern Australian and the Solomon Islands.

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

The breeding season depends on latitude and temperature, but is typically in the summer months. In the Northern extent of its range it nests from May to June. In the Southern extent it nests from December to February. The nest is built by both male and female. The male typically departs soon after the nest is complete. The nest takes the form of a hanging oval pouch with a sheltered side opening, often featuring a dangling "beard." It is skillfully crafted using materials such as grass, cotton, moss, lichens, leaf fragments, vegetable fibers, and spider webs, lined with bark or feathers. [9]

Feeding

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. Their flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering, but usually perch to feed most of the time.[ citation needed ]

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The Sahul sunbird is a species of bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae that is endemic to Sulawesi eastwards to New Guinea and the Soloman Islands. It is also found in northeast Australia. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the olive-backed sunbird, now renamed the garden sunbird.

The south Moluccan sunbird is a species of bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae that found on some of the Maluku Islands, between Sulawesi and New Guinea in Indonesia. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the olive-backed sunbird, now renamed the garden sunbird.

The Flores Sea sunbird is a species of bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae that found on several small islands in the Flores Sea. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the olive-backed sunbird, now renamed the garden sunbird.

The Mamberamo sunbird or Rand's sunbird, is a species of bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae that is found in northern New Guinea. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the olive-backed sunbird, now renamed the garden sunbird.

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References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Cinnyris jugularis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T103804139A94552679. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103804139A94552679.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 3. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. pp. 616–618, Plate 32 fig 5. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.
  3. 1 2 Allen, J.A. (1910). "Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 28: 317–335. hdl:2246/678.
  4. Linnaeus, Carl (1766). Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1, Part 1 (in Latin). Vol. 12 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 245.
  5. Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  6. Cuvier, Georges (1816). Le Règne animal distribué d'après son organisation : pour servir de base a l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction a l'anatomie comparée (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Déterville. pp. 388–389.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  8. Ó Marcaigh, F.; Kelly, D.J.; O’Connell, D.P.; Analuddin, K.; Karya, A.; McCloughan, J.; Tolan, E.; Lawless, N.; Marples, N.M. (2023). "Small islands and large biogeographic barriers have driven contrasting speciation patterns in Indo-Pacific sunbirds (Aves: Nectariniidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 198 (1): 72–92. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac081 . hdl: 2262/101492 .
  9. 1 2 Cheke, R.; Mann, C.; Kirwan, G.M.; Christie, D.A. (2023). Keeney, B.K.; Billerman, S.M. (eds.). "Garden Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis), version 1.0" . Birds of the World. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 4 February 2024.