Beautiful Sunbird
The beautiful sunbird (Cinnyris pulchellus), formerly placed in the genus Nectarinia, is a small passerine bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae. It is native to tropical Africa, its range extending from Senegal and Guinea in the west to Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya in the east. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the gorgeous sunbird (Cinnyris melanogastrus). == Taxonomy == The beautiful sunbird was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Certhia pulchella. Linnaeus based his account on "Le grimpereau à longue queue du Sénégal" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. The specific epithet is from Latin pulchellum meaning "very pretty" or "beautiful little". Formerly placed in the genus Nectarinia, the beautiful sunbird is now one of 64 sunbirds placed in the genus Cinnyris that was introduced in 1816 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. It was previously considered to be conspecific with the gorgeous sunbird (Cinnyris melanogastrus) but the species were split based on the differences in morphology. The beautiful sunbird is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. == Description == Beautiful…
Murchison Falls National Park
Uganda
+129 birds+30 mammals
Where the Victoria Nile surges through a narrow rocky chasm and plummets 43 metres in a thunderous cascade, Uganda’s oldest […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMount Elgon National Park
Matumbei ward, Kenya
+142 birds+20 mammals
Where ancient volcanic slopes rise across the Kenya-Uganda border, Mount Elgon commands the landscape as one of East Africa’s most […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKAmboseli National Park
Etonet/Lenkism ward, Kenya
+124 birds+30 mammals
Dawn breaks over a vast volcanic plain where Mount Kilimanjaro dominates the horizon, its snow-capped peak floating above the Tanzanian […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKZiwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch
Nakasongola, Uganda
+131 birds+17 mammals
Where papyrus wetlands merge into sprawling savanna, Uganda’s central landscape opens into one of East Africa’s most vital rhino recovery […]
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYAbijata-Shalla Lakes National Park
Ethiopia
+135 birds+22 mammals
Where two soda lakes mirror the Ethiopian highlands, a landscape of stark volcanic beauty unfolds across the Rift Valley floor. […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMago National Park
Ethiopia
+69 birds+10 mammals
Where the Omo River carves its path through the volcanic highlands of southwestern Ethiopia, a wilderness of startling contrasts unfolds. […]
VIEW NATIONAL PARKAwash National Park
Didiga, Ethiopia
+134 birds+29 mammals
Where the Ethiopian Rift Valley carves through volcanic plateaus, a ribbon of riverine forest winds through acacia scrubland and grassland, […]
VIEW NATURAL PARKNech Sar National Park
Arba Minch, Ethiopia
+109 birds+17 mammals
Where the East African Rift Valley plateaus drop dramatically toward the shore of Lake Abaya, a mosaic of habitats unfolds […]
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