Ornate Sunbird

The ornate sunbird (Cinnyris ornatus) is a species of bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae that is endemic to Mainland Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Lesser Sunda Islands. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the olive-backed sunbird, now renamed the garden sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis). == Taxonomy == The ornate sunbird was formally described in 1827 by the French naturalist René Lesson under the binomial name Cinnyris ornatus. He based his description on a hand-coloured plate showing the male and female birds that had been published in 1822 as part of a book by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. Temminck's specimens had been collected in Java. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "ornate" or "adorned". The ornate sunbird forms part of the olive-backed sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis) species complex. A comparison of mitochondrial DNA sequences has revealed deep genetic divergence from the other groups sampled. With the split of the complex the olive-backed sunbird has been renamed to the garden sunbird. Eight subspecies are recognised: C. o. andamanicus (Hume, 1873) – Andaman Islands C. o. klossi (Richmond, 1902) – Nicobar Islands (except Car Nicobar and Kondul Island) C. o. proselius Oberholser, 1923 – Car Nicobar (north…