Chalcomitra
Genus of birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chalcomitra is a genus of African sunbirds. Its members are sometimes included in Nectarinia.
| Chalcomitra | |
|---|---|
| |
| An adult male Scarlet-chested sunbird (C. senegalensis) in South Africa | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Nectariniidae |
| Genus: | Chalcomitra Reichenbach, 1853 |
| Type species | |
| Certhia amethystina Shaw, 1812 | |
| Species | |
|
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.
The genus Chalcomitra was introduced by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853.[1] The type species was subsequently designated as Certhia amethystina Shaw, 1812, the amethyst sunbird.[2][3] The name Chalcomitra is from the Ancient Greek khalkomitros "wearing a bronze head-band", from khalkos "bronze" and mitra "diadem".[4]
Species
Its members are:[5]
| Male | Female | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped2).jpg) | 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. | |
 | _(17019732982),_crop1.jpg) | 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. |
.jpg) |  | Scarlet-chested sunbird | 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. | |
.jpg) | Socotra sunbird | Chalcomitra balfouri | Socotra. | |