Chalcomitra Explained

Chalcomitra 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.

The genus Chalcomitra was introduced by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853.^[1] The type species was subsequently designated as the amethyst sunbird.^[2] The name Chalcomitra is from the Ancient Greek khalkomitros "wearing a bronze head-band", from khalkos "bronze" and mitra "diadem".^[3]

Species

Its members are:^[4]

Male	Female	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
		Buff-throated sunbird	Chalcomitra adelberti	Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
		Carmelite sunbird	Chalcomitra fuliginosa	Liberia, Angola
		Green-throated sunbird	Chalcomitra rubescens	Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
		Amethyst sunbird	Chalcomitra amethystina	Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
			Chalcomitra senegalensis	Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
		Hunter's sunbird	Chalcomitra hunteri	Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
		Socotra sunbird	Chalcomitra balfouri	Socotra.

References

• Barlow, Wacher and Disley, Birds of The Gambia
• Book: Sinclair, Ian . Hockey, Phil . Tarboton, Warwick . 2002 . SASOL Birds of Southern Africa . Struik . 1-86872-721-1.

Notes and References

1. Book: Reichenbach, Ludwig . Ludwig Reichenbach . 1853 . Handbuch der Speciellen Ornithologie . 6 . German . Dresden and Leipzig . Expedition der Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte . 277 .
2. Book: Dickinson . E.C. . Edward C. Dickinson . Christidis . L. . Leslie Christidis . 2014 . The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . 2: Passerines . 4th . Eastbourne, UK . Aves Press . 978-0-9568611-2-2 . 270 .
3. Web site: Jobling . J.A. . 2018 . Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology . del Hoyo . J. . Elliott . A. . Sargatal . J. . Christie . D.A. . de Juana . E. . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive . Lynx Edicions . 10 May 2018 .
4. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . 2018 . Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds . World Bird List Version 8.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 10 May 2018 .