Gorgeous sunbird
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| image =Beautiful Sunbird, Tarangire, Tanzania (8495915882).jpg
| image_caption=In Tanzania
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Cinnyris
| species = melanogastrus
| authority = (Fischer, GA & Reichenow, 1884)
}}
The gorgeous sunbird (Cinnyris melanogastrus) is a small passerine bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae that is found in southern Kenya and Tanzania. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the beautiful sunbird.
Taxonomy
The gorgeous sunbird was formally described in 1884 by the German explorer Gustav Fischer and ornithologist Anton Reichenow based on a specimen collected near the Nguruman Escarpment in southern Kenya. They coined the binomial name Nectarinia melanogastra.{{ cite journal | last1=Fischer | first1=Gustav | author1-link=Gustav Fischer (explorer) | last2=Reichenow | first2=Anton | author2-link=Anton Reichenow | year=1884 | title=Neue Vogelarten aus dem Massailand (Inneres Ostafrika) | journal=Journal für Ornithologie | volume=32 | issue=165 | pages=178-182 [181] | language=German | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32700111 }}{{ cite book | editor-last=Paynter | editor-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1986 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=12 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=266 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482383 }} The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek μελας/melas meaning "black" and γαστηρ/gastēr meaning "belly".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=melanogastrus | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=melanogastrus | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=28 December 2024 }} The gorgeous sunbird is now one of 64 sunbirds placed in the genus Cinnyris that was introduced in 1816 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/dippers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=28 December 2024 }} It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the beautiful sunbird (Cinnyris pulchellus). The species were split based on the differences in morphology. The gorgeous sunbird is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.