The sunbirds and spiderhunters are very small 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.
The sunbirds have counterparts in two very distantly related groups: the hummingbirds of the Americas and the honeyeaters of Australia. The resemblances are due to convergent evolution due to the similar nectar-feeding lifestyle. Most sunbird species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed.
Characteristics
The family ranges in size from the 5-gram Black-bellied Sunbird to the Spectacled Spiderhunter, at about 30 grams.
Sunbirds are tropical species, with representatives from Africa to Australasia; the greatest variety of species is in Africa, where the group probably arose. Most species are sedentary or short-distance seasonal migrants. Like the hummingbirds, sunbirds are strongly sexually dimorphic, with the males usually brilliantly plumaged in metallic colours. Sunbirds have long thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding. They are monogamous and often territorial. Up to three eggs are laid in a purse-shaped suspended nest. The female builds the nest and incubates the eggs alone, although the male assists in rearing the young after hatching.[1]
The Spiderhunters, of the genus Arachnothera, are distinct in appearance from the other members of the family. They are typically a drab brown colour, with strong down-curved beaks. They build cup-shaped nests, and both sexes help to incubate the eggs.[1]
Like hummingbirds, and unlike other birds, sunbirds drink by using protrusible grooved or trough-like tongues.[2].
Systematics
- FAMILY NECTARINIIDAE
- Genus Chalcoparia (sometimes included in Anthreptes)
- Genus Deleornis (sometimes included in Anthreptes)
- Genus Hedydipna (sometimes included in Anthreptes)
- Genus Anabathmis (sometimes included in Nectarinia)
- Genus Dreptes (sometimes included in Nectarinia)
- Genus Anthobaphes - Orange-breasted Sunbird (sometimes included in Nectarinia)
- Genus Cyanomitra (sometimes included in Nectarinia)
- Genus Leptocoma (sometimes included in Nectarinia)
- Genus Cinnyris (sometimes included in Nectarinia)
- Olive-bellied Sunbird, Cinnyris chloropygius
- Tiny Sunbird, Cinnyris minullus
- Miombo Sunbird, Cinnyris manoensis
- Southern Double-collared Sunbird, Cinnyris chalybeus
- Neergaard's Sunbird, Cinnyris neergaardi
- Stuhlmann's Sunbird, Cinnyris stuhlmanni - sometimes included in C. afer
- Prigogine's Sunbird, Cinnyris prigoginei - sometimes included in C. afer
- Montane Double-collared Sunbird, Cinnyris ludovicensis - sometimes included in C. afer
- Northern Double-collared Sunbird, Cinnyris preussi
- Greater Double-collared Sunbird, Cinnyris afer
- Regal Sunbird, Cinnyris regius
- Rockefeller's Sunbird, Cinnyris rockefelleri
- Eastern Double-collared Sunbird, Cinnyris mediocris
- Moreau's Sunbird, Cinnyris moreaui
- Beautiful Sunbird, Cinnyris pulchellus
- Loveridge's Sunbird, Cinnyris loveridgei
- Mariqua Sunbird, Cinnyris mariquensis
- Shelley's Sunbird, Cinnyris shelleyi
- Congo Sunbird, Cinnyris congensis
- Red-chested Sunbird, Cinnyris erythrocerca
- Black-bellied Sunbird, Cinnyris nectarinioides
- Purple-banded Sunbird, Cinnyris bifasciatus
- Tsavo Sunbird, Cinnyris tsavoensis - sometimes included in C. bifasciatus
- Violet-breasted Sunbird, Cinnyris chalcomelas
- Pemba Sunbird, Cinnyris pembae
- Orange-tufted Sunbird, Cinnyris bouvieri
- Palestine Sunbird, Cinnyris oseus
- Shining Sunbird, Cinnyris habessinicus
- Splendid Sunbird, Cinnyris coccinigaster
- Johanna's Sunbird, Cinnyris johannae
- Superb Sunbird, Cinnyris superbus
- Rufous-winged Sunbird, Cinnyris rufipennis
- Oustalet's Sunbird, Cinnyris oustaleti
- White-breasted Sunbird, Cinnyris talatala
- Variable Sunbird, Cinnyris venustus
- Dusky Sunbird, Cinnyris fuscus
- Ursula's Sunbird, Cinnyris ursulae
- Bates' Sunbird, Cinnyris batesi
- Copper Sunbird, Cinnyris cupreus
- Purple Sunbird, Cinnyris asiaticus
- Olive-backed Sunbird, Cinnyris jugularis
- Apricot-breasted Sunbird, Cinnyris buettikoferi
- Flame-breasted Sunbird, Cinnyris solaris
- Souimanga Sunbird, Cinnyris sovimanga
- Seychelles Sunbird, Cinnyris dussumieri
- Madagascar Sunbird, Cinnyris notatus
- Humblot's Sunbird, Cinnyris humbloti
- Anjouan Sunbird, Cinnyris comorensis
- Mayotte Sunbird, Cinnyris coquerellii
- Long-billed Sunbird, Cinnyris lotenius
- Genus Aethopyga
- Gray-hooded Sunbird, Aethopyga primigenia
- Mount Apo Sunbird, Aethopyga boltoni
- Lina's Sunbird, Aethopyga linaraborae
- Flaming Sunbird, Aethopyga flagrans
- Metallic-winged Sunbird, Aethopyga pulcherrima
- Elegant Sunbird, Aethopyga duyvenbodei
- Lovely Sunbird, Aethopyga shelleyi
- Handsome Sunbird, Aethopyga belli
- Gould's Sunbird, Aethopyga gouldiae
- White-flanked Sunbird, Aethopyga eximia
- Green-tailed Sunbird, Aethopyga nipalensis
- Fork-tailed Sunbird, Aethopyga christinae
- Black-throated Sunbird, Aethopyga saturata
- Western Crimson Sunbird, Aethopyga vigorsii - sometimes included in A. siparaja
- Crimson Sunbird, Aethopyga siparaja
- Scarlet Sunbird, Aethopyga mystacalis
- Temminck's Sunbird, Aethopyga temminckii - sometimes included in A. mystacalis
- Fire-tailed Sunbird, Aethopyga ignicauda
Gallery
References
- ^ a b Lindsey, Terence (1991). in Forshaw, Joseph: Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press, 207. ISBN 1-85391-186-0.
- ^ "Drinking Behavior of Mousebirds in the Namib Desert, Southern Africa "; Tom J. Cade and Lewis I. Greenwald; The Auk, V.83, No. 1, January, 1966 pdf
External links
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