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Order
Passeriformes
Family
Nectariniidae
Genus
Cinnyris
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Prigogine's Sunbird Cinnyris prigoginei Scientific name definitions

Robert Cheke and Clive Mann
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2008

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

13 cm; 8–10·9 g. Male breeding has head and mantle iridescent blue-green with golden reflections, rump blue, uppertail-coverts iridescent purple-blue; uppertail black with bluish tinge, tipped white with narrow white edges on two outer feather pairs; remiges and upperwing-coverts black; narrow breastband iridescent purplish-blue (more blue than uppertail-coverts), below which a very narrow (10 mm deep) dark red band; bright yellow pectoral tufts; belly yellow-olive, lower belly and undertail-coverts grey-brown, undertail dark brown, edged whitish; iris dark brown; bill and legs black. Non-breeding male may have non-metallic olive intermixed with metallic green feathers on crown, side of head and back, with primaries and wing-coverts brown, not black, and lower abdomen greyish. Female has forehead to rump uniformly olive, uppertail black, outer feathers edged white, remiges dark brown or black, outer edges of primaries with olive-green edges and secondaries with edges more yellow-green; chin and throat dark olive with dusky markings, underparts olive, darker on upper breast, with flanks and vent yellow-olive, undertail black, broadly edged white; bill black with pale base, legs black. Juvenile undescribed.

Systematics History

Sometimes treated as conspecific with C. stuhlmanni and/or C. ludovicensis; has been considered conspecific also with C. afer, and is closely related to C. reichenowi. Considered by some to be possibly of hybrid origin, perhaps C. stuhlmanni × C. mediocris. Research urgently needed. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Marungu Highlands, in SE DRCongo.

Habitat

Montane forest, thickets and fields near rivers and streams, in montane areas to at least 1900 m.

Movement

No data.

Diet and Foraging

No data; diet presumably nectar and invertebrates.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a high-pitched warble. Calls various cheeps and ticking notes.

Breeding

Birds with active gonads in Feb and Apr. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife NT Near Threatened
Not assessed. Locally common. Deforestation by humans and streambank erosion by cattle pose threats to this species’ restricted habitat.
Distribution of the Prigogine's Sunbird - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Prigogine's Sunbird

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Cheke, R. and C. Mann (2020). Prigogine's Sunbird (Cinnyris prigoginei), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.prisun3.01
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