Cyanomitra

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Cyanomitra
Eastern Olive Sunbird (Nectarinia olivacea).jpg
Eastern olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea)
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Nectariniidae
Genus: Cyanomitra
Reichenbach, 1853
Type species
Certhia verticalis
(Green-headed sunbird)
Latham, 1790
Species

See text

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

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

Species[]

The genus contains 7 species:[5]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Greenheadsunbird.jpg Green-headed sunbird Cyanomitra verticalis Angola, 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 bannermani Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.
Cyanomitra cyanolaema.jpg Blue-throated brown sunbird Cyanomitra cyanolaema Angola, 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 oritis Cameroon, Bioko and eastern Nigeria.
Blue-headed sunbird.jpg Blue-headed sunbird Cyanomitra alinae Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Eastern Olive Sunbird (Nectarinia olivacea).jpg Olive sunbird Cyanomitra olivacea Africa south of the Sahel.
Sunbird Grey 2010 07 04 Alan Manson Queen Elizabeth Park.jpg Grey sunbird Cyanomitra veroxii Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania.

References[]

  1. ^ 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].
  2. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 127. 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. 137.
  4. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Volume 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 223. |volume= has extra text (help)
  5. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  • Barlow, Wacher and Disley, Birds of The Gambia ISBN 1-873403-32-1
  • Sinclair, Ian; Hockey, Phil; Tarboton, Warwick (2002). SASOL Birds of Southern Africa. Struik. ISBN 1-86872-721-1.

External links[]


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