Leptocoma is a genus of sunbirds found from tropical South Asia to Papua New Guinea. Its members are sometimes included in Nectarinia.

Leptocoma
Male purple-rumped sunbird (Leptocoma zeylonica)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Nectariniidae
Genus: Leptocoma
Cabanis, 1851
Type species
Nectarinia hasseltii
Temminck, 1825
Species

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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

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The genus was introduced by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1850 with the type species as Nectarinia hasseltii Temminck 1825, a junior synonym of Certhia brasiliana Gmelin, JF, 1788, Van Hasselt's sunbird.[1][2][3] The name Leptocoma combines the Ancient Greek words leptos "delicate" or "fine" and komē "hair".[4]

Its six species in the genus are:[5]

Male Female Common Name Scientific name Distribution
    Purple-rumped sunbird Leptocoma zeylonica India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
    Crimson-backed sunbird Leptocoma minima Western Ghats of India
    Purple-throated sunbird Leptocoma sperata the Philippines
    Van Hasselt's sunbird Leptocoma brasiliana Northeast India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia
    Black sunbird Leptocoma aspasia eastern Indonesia and New Guinea
    Copper-throated sunbird Leptocoma calcostetha Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam

References

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  1. ^ Cabanis, Jean; Heine, Ferdinand (1850). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 1. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 104.
  2. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 223.
  3. ^ Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-9568611-2-2.
  4. ^ Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  5. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds". World Bird List Version 8.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 9 May 2018.