Shelley's sunbird

Shelley's sunbird
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Nectariniidae
Genus:	Cinnyris
Species:	C. shelleyi
Binomial name
Cinnyris shelleyi Alexander, 1899
Synonyms
Nectarinia shelleyi Nectarinia hofmanni

Shelley's sunbird (Cinnyris shelleyi) is a species of bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The species is named after George Ernest Shelley, an English ornithologist and nephew of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Taxonomy

Shelley's sunbird was formally described in 1899 by the explorer and ornithologist Boyd Alexander under the current binomial name Cinnyris shelleyi based on a specimen collected near the Zambezi River, 60 mi (97 km) downstrean of the junction of the river with the Kafue River. ^{[2] [3] [4]} The bird is named after the English ornithologist George Ernest Shelley who had written a book on the sunbirds. ^{[5] [6]}

Two subspecies are recognised: ^[7]

• C. s. shelleyi Alexander, 1899 – southeast DR Congo to southeast Tanzania, east Zambia, Malawi, and north Mozambique
• C. s. hofmanni Reichenow, 1915 – east Tanzania

The subspecies C. s. hofmanni has sometimes been considered as a separate species, Hofmann's sunbird. ^[7]

References

1. BirdLife International (2018). "Cinnyris shelleyi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22717990A131981276. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22717990A131981276.en . Retrieved 14 November 2021.
2. Alexander, Boyd (1899). "Mr Boyd Alexander exhibited male and female examples of a new species of Sun-bird which he had obtained near the Kafui River, South Africa". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 8: 54–55.
3. Alexander, Boyd (1899). "An expedition to the Zambezi River". Ibis. 7th series. 5: 549-583 [556, Plate 11].
4. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 263.
5. Jobling, James A. "shelleyi". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
6. Shelley, George Ernest (1876–1880). A Monograph of the Nectariniidae, or, Family of Sun-birds. London: Self published.
7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 12 March 2025.