Cyanomitra is a genus of African sunbirds. Its members are sometimes included in Nectarinia.
| Cyanomitra | |
|---|---|
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| Eastern olive sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Nectariniidae |
| Genus: | Cyanomitra Reichenbach, 1853 |
| Type species | |
| Certhia cyanocephala[1] Shaw, 1812
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| Species | |
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See text | |
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
editThe 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
editThe genus contains 7 species:[6]
| Image | Common name | Scientific Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
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. | |
 |
Blue-throated brown sunbird | Cyanomitra cyanolaema | African tropical rainforest |
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Cameroon sunbird | Cyanomitra oritis | Western High Plateau & Bioko |
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Blue-headed sunbird | Cyanomitra alinae | Albertine Rift montane forests |
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Olive sunbird | Cyanomitra olivacea | Africa south of the Sahel. |
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Grey sunbird | Cyanomitra veroxii | Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania. |
References
edit- ^ "Nectariniidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ^ 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].
- ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 137.
- ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 223.
- ^ 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.
Further reading
edit- 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.
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