Cinnyris shelleyi Alexander, 1899
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Shelley's sunbird (Cinnyris shelleyi) is a species of bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The species is named after George Ernest Shelley, an English ornithologist and nephew of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Wikipedia contributors, Shelley's sunbird; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:53:52.982955+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cinnyris shelleyi Alexander, 1899
- Name authority
- Alexander, 1899
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Nectariniidae
- Genus
- Cinnyris
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyNectariniidae Vigors, 1825
- genusCinnyris Cuvier, 1816
- speciesCinnyris shelleyi Alexander, 1899
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cinnyris. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Cinnyris humbloti Milne-Edwards & Oustalet, 1885 | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cinnyris lotenius (Linnaeus, 1766) | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cinnyris manoensis Reichenow, 1907 | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cinnyris congensis (Oort, 1910) | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cinnyris sovimanga (Gmelin, 1788) | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cinnyris usambaricus Grote, 1922 | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cinnyris minullus Reichenow, 1899 | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cinnyris neergaardi Grant, 1908 | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cinnyris afer (Linnaeus, 1766) | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern Double-collared SunbirdCinnyris chalybeus (Linnaeus, 1766) | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Splendid SunbirdCinnyris coccinigastrus (Latham, 1802) | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cinnyris johannae J. Verreaux & E. Verreaux, 1851 | NectariniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Nectarinia shelleyi (Alexander, 1899) (Alexander, 1899) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=916437 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5Z6TK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.