Cinnyris is a genus of sunbirds. Its members are sometimes included in Nectarinia. They are generally known as double-collared sunbirds because the fringe of their bib usually includes a band of contrastingly coloured feathers.[1]
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.
The genus Cinnyris was introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1816.[2] The type species was designated as "Certhia splendida Shaw" by George Robert Gray in 1855.[3] This taxon is a junior synonym of Certhia coccinigaster described by John Latham in 1801. This is now the splendid sunbird.[4] [5] [6] The name Cinnyris is from the Ancient Greek κιννυρις (kinnyris), an unknown small bird mentioned by Hesychius of Alexandria.[7]
It is suspected that the genus is polyphyletic and the positions of many are unresolved:[8] [9]
The genus contains 63 species:[5]
| Image | Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cinnyris chloropygius | African tropical rainforest | ||
| Cinnyris minullus | African tropical rainforest | ||
| Cinnyris manoensis | central and eastern Africa | ||
| Cinnyris gertrudis | western Africa | ||
| Cinnyris chalybeus | southern Africa | ||
| Cinnyris neergaardi | Mozambique and South Africa | ||
| Cinnyris stuhlmanni | south central Africa | ||
| Cinnyris whytei | Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris prigoginei | Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||
| Cinnyris ludovicensis | Angola, northern Malawi, and northeastern Zambia | ||
| Cinnyris reichenowi | Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda | ||
| Cinnyris afer | southern South Africa | ||
| Cinnyris regius | Uganda to Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris rockefelleri | Albertine Rift montane forests | ||
| Cinnyris mediocris | Kenya and northern Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris usambaricus | Kenya and northeast Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris fuelleborni | East Africa | ||
| Cinnyris moreaui | Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris pulchellus | Senegal and Guinea in the west to Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya | ||
| Cinnyris loveridgei | Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris mariquensis | Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe | ||
| Cinnyris shelleyi | Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe | ||
| Cinnyris hofmanni | eastern Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris congensis | Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||
| Cinnyris erythrocercus | Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda | ||
| Cinnyris nectarinioides | Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris bifasciatus | Angola, Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe | ||
| Cinnyris tsavoensis | Kenya and Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris chalcomelas | Kenya and Somalia | ||
| Cinnyris pembae | Pemba Island, in Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris bouvieri | Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia | ||
| Cinnyris osea | Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa | ||
| Cinnyris hellmayri | Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen | ||
| Cinnyris habessinicus | Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda | ||
| Cinnyris coccinigastrus | tropical Africa | ||
| Cinnyris johannae | African tropical rainforest | ||
| Cinnyris superbus | African tropical rainforest | ||
| Cinnyris rufipennis | Tanzania | ||
| Cinnyris oustaleti | Angola, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia | ||
| Cinnyris talatala | Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe | ||
| Cinnyris venustus | Sub-Saharan Africa | ||
| Cinnyris fuscus | Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa | ||
| Cinnyris ursulae | Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea | ||
| Cinnyris batesi | Central Africa | ||
| Cinnyris cupreus | Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique | ||
| Cinnyris asiaticus | South and Southeast Asia | ||
| Olive-backed sunbird or garden sunbird | Cinnyris jugularis | The Philippines | |
| Cinnyris buettikoferi | Indonesia | ||
| Cinnyris solaris | Timor | ||
| Cinnyris sovimanga | Madagascar, the Aldabra Group and the Glorioso Islands | ||
| Cinnyris dussumieri | Seychelles | ||
| Cinnyris notatus | Comoros and Madagascar | ||
| Cinnyris humbloti | Comoros | ||
| Cinnyris comorensis | Comoros | ||
| Cinnyris coquerellii | Comoros | ||
| Cinnyris lotenius | India and Sri Lanka | ||
| Cinnyris infrenatus | Wakatobi Islands, Indonesia | ||
| Cinnyris ornatus | Mainland Southeast Asia, Samatra, Java, Borneo and the Lesser Sunda Islands | ||
| Cinnyris frenatus | Sulawesi to the Solomon Islands and northeast Australia | ||
| Cinnyris aurora | Palawan and Busuanga Islands, Philippines | ||
| Cinnyris clementiae | Maluku Islands, Indonesia | ||
| Cinnyris teysmanni | Flores Sea islands, south of Sulawesi | ||
| Cinnyris idenburgi | north New Guinea | ||