The genus Aethopyga was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis.[1] The name combines the Ancient Greek aithos meaning "fire" or "burning heat" with pugē meaning "rump".[2] The type species was designated as the crimson sunbird by George Robert Gray in 1855.[3][4]
The genus contains 21 species:[5]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
 | Grey-hooded sunbird | Aethopyga primigenia | Philippines. |
 | Apo sunbird | Aethopyga boltoni | Philippines |
 | Tboli sunbird | Aethopyga tibolii | southern Mindanao in the Philippines |
 | Lina's sunbird | Aethopyga linaraborae | Mindanao in the Philippines |
| Flaming sunbird | Aethopyga flagrans | northern Philippines. |
 | Maroon-naped sunbird | Aethopyga guimarasensis | Philippines (Negros Island, Panay and Guimaras). |
 | Metallic-winged sunbird | Aethopyga pulcherrima | Philippines. |
| Elegant sunbird | Aethopyga duyvenbodei | Indonesia |
 | Lovely sunbird | Aethopyga shelleyi | Philippines. |
 | Handsome sunbird | Aethopyga bella | Philippines. |
 | Mrs. Gould's sunbird | Aethopyga gouldiae | Bangladesh, Bhutan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, India, Vietnam and Southern China. |
 | Green-tailed sunbird | Aethopyga nipalensis | Indian subcontinent, stretching eastwards into parts of Southeast Asia. |
 | White-flanked sunbird | Aethopyga eximia | Indonesia. |
 | Fork-tailed sunbird | Aethopyga christinae | China, Hong Kong, Laos, and Vietnam. |
 | Black-throated sunbird | Aethopyga saturata | Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. |
 | Crimson sunbird | Aethopyga siparaja | India, through Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar to Indonesia and Brunei. |
 | Magnificent sunbird | Aethopyga magnifica | Negros Island, Panay, Cebu, Tablas Island and Romblon. |
 | Vigors's sunbird | Aethopyga vigorsii | Western Ghats of India. |
 | Javan sunbird | Aethopyga mystacalis | Java and Bali, Indonesia. |
 | Temminck's sunbird | Aethopyga temminckii | Borneo, Sumatra, Malaysia, and south west Thailand |
 | Fire-tailed sunbird | Aethopyga ignicauda | Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet. |