# Cinnyris

Cinnyris is a genus of sunbirds. Its members are sometimes included in Nectarinia. They are generally known as double-collared sunbirds because the fringe of their bib usually includes a band of contrastingly coloured feathers.
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.

## Taxonomy

The genus Cinnyris was introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1816. The type species was designated as "Certhia splendida Shaw" by George Robert Gray in 1855. This taxon is a junior synonym of Certhia coccinigaster described by John Latham in 1801. This is now the splendid sunbird. The name Cinnyris is from the Ancient Greek κιννυρις (kinnyris), an unknown small bird mentioned by Hesychius of Alexandria.
It is suspected that the genus is polyphyletic and the positions of many are unresolved:

### Species

The genus contains 63 species:
| Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
| Olive-bellied sunbird | Cinnyris chloropygius | African tropical rainforest |
| Tiny sunbird | Cinnyris minullus | African tropical rainforest |
| Eastern miombo sunbird | Cinnyris manoensis | central and eastern Africa |
| Western miombo sunbird | Cinnyris gertrudis | western Africa |
| Southern double-collared sunbird | Cinnyris chalybeus | southern Africa |
| Neergaard's sunbird | Cinnyris neergaardi | Mozambique and South Africa |
| Rwenzori double-collared sunbird | Cinnyris stuhlmanni | south central Africa |
| Whyte's double-collared sunbird | Cinnyris whytei | Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania |
| Prigogine's double-collared sunbird | Cinnyris prigoginei | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Ludwig's double-collared sunbird | Cinnyris ludovicensis | Angola, northern Malawi, and northeastern Zambia |
| Northern double-collared sunbird | Cinnyris reichenowi | Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda |
| Greater double-collared sunbird | Cinnyris afer | southern South Africa |
| Regal sunbird | Cinnyris regius | Uganda to Tanzania |
| Rockefeller's sunbird | Cinnyris rockefelleri | Albertine Rift montane forests |
| Eastern double-collared sunbird | Cinnyris mediocris | Kenya and northern Tanzania |
| Usambara double-collared sunbird | Cinnyris usambaricus | Kenya and northeast Tanzania |
| Forest double-collared sunbird | Cinnyris fuelleborni | East Africa |
| Moreau's sunbird | Cinnyris moreaui | Tanzania |
| Beautiful sunbird | Cinnyris pulchellus | Senegal and Guinea in the west to Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and northwest Kenya |
| Gorgeous sunbird (split from beautiful sunbird) | Cinnyris melanogastrus | Kenya and Tanzania |
| Loveridge's sunbird | Cinnyris loveridgei | Tanzania |
| Marico sunbird | Cinnyris mariquensis | Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe |
| Shelley's sunbird | Cinnyris shelleyi | Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe |
| Congo sunbird | Cinnyris congensis | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Red-chested sunbird | Cinnyris erythrocercus | Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda |
| Black-bellied sunbird | Cinnyris nectarinioides | Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania |
| Purple-banded sunbird | Cinnyris bifasciatus | Angola, Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe |
| Tsavo sunbird | Cinnyris tsavoensis | Kenya and Tanzania |
| Violet-breasted sunbird | Cinnyris chalcomelas | Kenya and Somalia |
| Pemba sunbird | Cinnyris pembae | Pemba Island, in Tanzania |
| Orange-tufted sunbird | Cinnyris bouvieri | Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia |
| Palestine sunbird | Cinnyris osea | Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa |
| Arabian sunbird | Cinnyris hellmayri | Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen |
| Abyssinian sunbird | Cinnyris habessinicus | Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda |
| Splendid sunbird | Cinnyris coccinigastrus | tropical Africa |
| Johanna's sunbird | Cinnyris johannae | African tropical rainforest |
| Superb sunbird | Cinnyris superbus | African tropical rainforest |
| Rufous-winged sunbird | Cinnyris rufipennis | Tanzania |
| Oustalet's sunbird | Cinnyris oustaleti | Angola, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia |
| White-bellied sunbird | Cinnyris talatala | Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe |
| Variable sunbird | Cinnyris venustus | Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Dusky sunbird | Cinnyris fuscus | Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa |
| Ursula's sunbird | Cinnyris ursulae | Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea |
| Bates's sunbird | Cinnyris batesi | Central Africa |
| Copper sunbird | Cinnyris cupreus | Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique |
| Purple sunbird | Cinnyris asiaticus | South and Southeast Asia |
| Garden sunbird or olive-backed sunbird | Cinnyris jugularis | The Philippines |
| Apricot-breasted sunbird | Cinnyris buettikoferi | Indonesia |
| Flame-breasted sunbird | Cinnyris solaris | Timor |
| Souimanga sunbird | Cinnyris sovimanga | Madagascar, the Aldabra Group and the Glorioso Islands |
| Seychelles sunbird | Cinnyris dussumieri | Seychelles |
| Malagasy green sunbird | Cinnyris notatus | Comoros and Madagascar |
| Humblot's sunbird | Cinnyris humbloti | Comoros |
| Anjouan sunbird | Cinnyris comorensis | Comoros |
| Mayotte sunbird | Cinnyris coquerellii | Comoros |
| Loten's sunbird | Cinnyris lotenius | India and Sri Lanka |
| Tukangbesi sunbird | Cinnyris infrenatus | Wakatobi Islands, Indonesia |
| Ornate sunbird | Cinnyris ornatus | Mainland Southeast Asia, Samatra, Java, Borneo and the Lesser Sunda Islands |
| Sahul sunbird | Cinnyris frenatus | Sulawesi to the Solomon Islands and northeast Australia |
| Palawan sunbird | Cinnyris aurora | Palawan and Busuanga Islands, Philippines |
| South Moluccan sunbird | Cinnyris clementiae | Maluku Islands, Indonesia |
| Flores Sea sunbird | Cinnyris teysmanni | Flores Sea islands, south of Sulawesi |
| Mamberamo sunbird | Cinnyris idenburgi | north New Guinea |