Shelley's sunbird
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Cinnyris shelleyi shelleyi, Caprivi, Birding Weto Tours, a.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Cinnyris
| species = shelleyi
| authority = Alexander, 1899
| synonyms = *Nectarinia shelleyi
- Nectarinia hofmanni
}}
Shelley's sunbird (Cinnyris shelleyi) is a species of bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The species is named after George Ernest Shelley, an English ornithologist and nephew of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Taxonomy
Shelley's sunbird was formally described in 1899 by the explorer and ornithologist Boyd Alexander under the current binomial name Cinnyris shelleyi based on a specimen collected near the Zambezi River, {{cvt|60|mi}} downstrean of the junction of the river with the Kafue River.{{ cite journal | last=Alexander | first=Boyd | date=1899 | title=Mr Boyd Alexander exhibited male and female examples of a new species of Sun-bird which he had obtained near the Kafui River, South Africa | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=8 | pages=54-55 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32475690 }}{{ cite journal | last=Alexander | first=Boyd | date=1899 | title=An expedition to the Zambezi River | journal=Ibis | series=7th series | volume=5 | pages=549-583 [556, Plate 11] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32475690 }}{{ 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=263 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482380 }} The bird is named after the English ornithologist George Ernest Shelley who had written a book on the sunbirds.{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=shelleyi | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=shelleyi | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=12 March 2025 }}{{ cite book | last=Shelley | first=George Ernest | author-link=George Ernest Shelley | date=1876–1880 | title=A Monograph of the Nectariniidae, or, Family of Sun-birds | location=London | publisher=Self published | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36894054 }}
Two subspecies are recognised:{{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=February 2025 | title=Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds | work=IOC World Bird List Version 15.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/dippers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=12 March 2025 }}
- C. s. shelleyi Alexander, 1899 – southeast DR Congo to southeast Tanzania, east Zambia, Malawi, and north Mozambique
- C. s. hofmanni Reichenow, 1915 – east Tanzania
The subspecies C. s. hofmanni has sometimes been considered as a separate species, Hofmann's sunbird.
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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