Anthreptes
Genus of birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthreptes is a genus of passerine birds in the sunbird family, Nectariniidae.
| Anthreptes | |
|---|---|
| |
| Brown-throated sunbird Anthreptes malacensis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Nectariniidae |
| Genus: | Anthreptes Swainson, 1832 |
| Type species | |
| Cinnyris javanica[1] Swainson, 1832 | |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
These small birds are found in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Greater Sunda Islands, the Philippines and western Wallacea. Most species show marked sexual dichromatism with the male having more brightly coloured plumage.[2]
Taxonomy
The genus Anthreptes was introduced in 1832 by the English zoologist William Swainson with Cynniris javanica Swainson as the type species and only species in the genus.[3] The name Cynniris javanica is a junior synonym of Certhia malacensis that had been introduced in 1786 by Austrian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli.[4] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ανθος/anthos meaning "flower" or "blossom" with θρεπτης/threptēs meaning "feeder".[5]
Species
The genus contains 15 species:[6]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Plain-backed sunbird | Anthreptes reichenowi | Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania |
 | Anchieta's sunbird | Anthreptes anchietae | Angola, the DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia |
 | Plain sunbird | Anthreptes simplex | Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand. |
| Brown-throated sunbird | Anthreptes malacensis | Myanmar to the Lesser Sundas and west Philippines. |
 | Grey-throated sunbird | Anthreptes griseigularis | Philippines. |
 | Red-throated sunbird | Anthreptes rhodolaemus | Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. |
.jpg) | Mangrove sunbird | Anthreptes gabonicus | Senegal to northwestern Angola. |
.jpg) | Western violet-backed sunbird | Anthreptes longuemarei | sub-Saharan Africa |
 | Eastern violet-backed sunbird | Anthreptes orientalis | Djibouti in north to Tanzania |
| Uluguru violet-backed sunbird | Anthreptes neglectus | eastern Kenya, eastern Tanzania, and north-eastern Mozambique. | |
 | Violet-tailed sunbird | Anthreptes aurantius | Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. |
_3_(cropped).jpg) | Little green sunbird | Anthreptes seimundi | Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. |
 | Yellow-chinned sunbird | Anthreptes rectirostris[7] | Sierra Leone to Ghana. |
| Grey-chinned sunbird | Anthreptes tephrolaemus[7] | Nigeria to Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola and Bioko. | |
| Banded green sunbird | Anthreptes rubritorques | Tanzania. | |
