Nectar birds
Nectar birds | ||||||||||||
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Brown-throated nectar bird ( Anthreptes malacensis ) on a Zingiberaceae of the genus Etlingera |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Nectariniidae | ||||||||||||
Vigors , 1825 |
The nectar birds (Nectariniidae), also called honey suckers , are a species-rich family in the order of the passerine birds (Passeriformes). The family comprises 15 genera.
distribution
About half of the species of sunbirds in Africa south of the Sahara , spread. The other species have their habitat from South Asia to Australia .
features
The lively nectar birds are ecologically the counterparts of the American hummingbirds in the Old World . However, their flight is not as agile and, unlike the hummingbirds, they can only hover in place for a short time. They have strong legs with which they can sit while eating and, like the honeyeater , have a long, downward-curved beak. Their long tongue, with which they suck the nectar from the flowers and catch insects, can be stuck out. The males are often brightly colored and have shiny metallic plumage. With a few exceptions, the females are more inconspicuous.
nutrition
They feed mainly on nectar , as well as insects and spiders.
Reproduction
The clutch usually consists of two eggs. The nests, which hang on the branches or on the large leaves of the trees, are bag-shaped and closed; there is a narrow entrance to the side. To protect against enemies, the nest is sometimes also built close to a wasp's nest. The female incubates the eggs on her own and is only supported by the male in building nests and feeding.
Genera and species
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Aethopyga
- Fire breast nectar bird ( Aethopyga flagrans )
- Fire- tailed nectar bird ( Aethopyga ignicauda )
- Golden-throated nectar bird ( Aethopyga shelleyi )
- Gould nectar bird ( Aethopyga gouldiae )
- Gray-throated nectar bird ( Aethopyga primigenia )
- Green-tailed nectar bird ( Aethopyga nipalensis )
- Grove nectar bird ( Aethopyga christinae )
- Java nectar bird ( Aethopyga eximia )
- Crimson nectar bird ( Aethopyga siparaja )
- Mindanaonectar bird ( Aethopyga boltoni )
- Scarlet nectar bird ( Aethopyga mystacalis )
- Black-throated nectar bird ( Aethopyga saturata )
- Temminck nectar bird ( Aethopyga temminckii )
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Anabathmis
- Yellow-breasted nectar bird ( Anabathmis newtonii )
- Hartlaub nectar bird ( Anabathmis hartlaubii )
- Reichenbach nectar bird ( Anabathmisreichenbachii )
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Anthobaphes
- Golden breast nectar bird ( Anthobaphes violacea )
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Anthreptes
- Blue-throated nectar bird ( Anthreptes reichowi )
- Brown-throated nectar bird ( Anthreptes malacensis )
- Bright-bellied nectar bird ( Anthreptes anchietae )
- Ore nectar bird ( Anthreptes metallicus )
- Gabon nectar bird ( Anthreptes gabonicus )
- Golden-bellied nectar bird ( Anthreptes rectirostris )
- Red band nectar bird ( Anthreptes rubritorques )
- European red- throated nectar bird ( Anthreptes rhodolaemus )
- Plain nectar bird ( Anthreptes simplex )
- Swallow nectar bird ( Anthreptes orientalis )
- Stutz-tailed nectar bird ( Anthreptes seimundi )
- Ulugurunectar bird ( Anthreptes neglectus )
- Violet-mantled nectar bird ( Anthreptes longuemarei )
- Violet-tailed nectar bird ( Anthreptes aurantium )
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Spider Hunters ( Arachnothera )
- Mountain spider hunter ( Arachnothera juliae )
- Everett spider hunter ( Arachnothera everetti )
- Eyton spider hunter ( Arachnothera flavigaster )
- Yellow-cheeked spider-hunter ( Arachnothera chrysogenys )
- Gray breasted spider hunter ( Arachnothera affinis )
- Long-billed spider hunter ( Arachnothera robusta )
- Bare-cheeked spider-hunter ( Arachnothera clarae )
- Line spider hunter ( Arachnothera magna )
- White-throated spider-hunter ( Arachnothera longirostra )
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Cinnyris
- Cinnyris chalcomelas
- Cinnyris ludovicensis
- Cinnyris manoensis
- Cinnyris tsavoensis
- Angola nectar bird ( Cinnyris oustaleti )
- Anjouan nectar bird ( Cinnyris comorensis )
- Binding nectar bird ( Cinnyris mariquensis )
- Blood breast nectar bird ( Cinnyris rockefelleri )
- Bouvier nectar bird ( Cinnyris bouvieri )
- Elven nectar bird ( Cinnyris pulchellus )
- Monochrome nectar bird ( Cinnyris batesi )
- Fullborn nectar bird ( Cinnyris mediocris )
- Gloss nectar bird ( Cinnyris habessinicus )
- Gray-breasted nectar bird ( Cinnyris ursulae )
- Green-backed nectar bird ( Cinnyris jugularis )
- Green-crowned nectar bird ( Cinnyris johannae )
- Collared nectar bird ( Cinnyris reichowi )
- Jerichonectar bird ( Cinnyris oseus )
- Congonectar bird ( Cinnyris congensis )
- King nectar bird ( Cinnyris regius )
- Copper nectar bird ( Cinnyris cupreus )
- Lotus nectar bird ( Cinnyris lotenius )
- Malegasse nectar bird ( Cinnyris souimanga )
- Maroon nectar bird ( Cinnyris stuhlmanni )
- Mayot nectar bird ( Cinnyris coquerellii )
- Red breast nectar bird ( Cinnyris nectarinioides )
- Miombonectar bird ( Cinnyris chalybeus )
- Neergaard nectar bird ( Cinnyris neergaardi )
- Olive- bellied nectar bird ( Cinnyris chloropygius )
- Orange-bellied nectar bird ( Cinnyris loveridgei )
- Porphyry nectar bird ( Cinnyris bifasciatus )
- Magnificent nectar bird ( Cinnyris superbus )
- Preuss nectar bird ( Cinnyris reichowi )
- Purple nectar bird ( Cinnyris asiaticus )
- Red-bellied nectar bird ( Cinnyris coccinigastrus )
- Red wing nectar bird ( Cinnyris rufipennis )
- Soot nectar bird ( Cinnyris fuscus )
- Scarlet breast nectar bird ( Cinnyris shelleyi )
- Plain-mantled nectar bird ( Cinnyris humbloti )
- Decorative nectar bird ( Cinnyris erythrocercus )
- Seychelles nectar bird ( Cinnyris dussumieri )
- Sun nectar bird ( Cinnyris solaris )
- Steel nectar bird ( Cinnyris notatus )
- Sumba nectar bird ( Cinnyris buettikoferi )
- Violet breast nectar bird ( Cinnyris pembae )
- White-bellied nectar bird ( Cinnyris talatala )
- Decorative nectar bird ( Cinnyris venustus )
- Dwarf nectar bird ( Cinnyris minullus )
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Chalcomitra
- Amethyst glossy head ( Chalcomitra amethystina )
- White-throated glossy head ( Chalcomitra adelberti )
- Green-throated glossy head ( Chalcomitra rubescens )
- Carmel shining heads ( Chalcomitra fuliginosa )
- Purple rump ( Chalcomitra hunteri )
- Red-breasted shining head ( Chalcomitra senegalensis )
- Socotranectar bird ( Chalcomitra balfouri )
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Chalcoparia
- Ruby-cheeked nectar bird ( Chalcoparia singalensis )
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Cyanomitra
- Cyanomitra obscura
- Bannerman nectar bird ( Cyanomitra bannermani )
- Blue-headed nectar bird ( Cyanomitra oritis )
- Brown-backed nectar bird ( Cyanomitra cyanolaema )
- Gray nectar bird ( Cyanomitra veroxii )
- Green-headed nectar bird ( Cyanomitra verticalis )
- Olive nectar bird ( Cyanomitra olivacea )
- Ruwenzorinectar bird ( Cyanomitra alinae )
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Deleornis
- Axillary deleornis
- Deciduous nectar bird ( Deleornis fraseri )
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Dreptes
- Giant nectar bird ( Dreptes thomensis )
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Hedydipna
- Hedydipna metallica
- Amaninectar bird ( Hedydipna pallidigaster )
- Green-breasted nectar bird ( Hedydipna platura )
- Forest nectar bird ( Hedydipna collaris )
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Hypogramma
- Striped nectar bird ( Hypogramma hypogrammicum )
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Leptocoma
- Ceylon nectar bird ( Leptocoma zeylonica )
- Thumbnail nectar bird ( Leptocoma minima )
- Copper-throated nectar bird ( Leptocoma calcostetha )
- Purple-throated nectar bird ( Leptocoma sperata )
- Silk nectar bird ( Leptocoma sericea )
- Lotus nectar bird ( Leptocoma lotenia )
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Nectarinia
- Bocage nectar bird ( Nectarinia bocagii )
- Bronze nectar bird ( Nectarinia kilimensis )
- Lobelia nectar bird ( Nectarinia johnstoni )
- Malachite nectar bird ( Nectarinia famosa )
- Purple-bellied nectar bird ( Nectarinia purpureiventris )
- Takazzenectar bird ( Nectarinia tacazze )
literature
- Joseph Forshaw (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Birds. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-8289-1557-4 .