Sunbirds (Nectariniidae)

Collared Sunbird (Anthodiaeta collaris) - HBW 13, p. 253

French: Souimanga à collier German: Waldnektarvogel Spanish: Suimanga Acollarado

Taxonomy: Cinnyris collaris Vieillot, 1819, Gamtoos River, Cape Province, South Africa.
Genus formerly subsumed in Anthreptes; recently, this species and its three congeners were placed in a genus Hedydipna, but this name invalid, current genus name having precedence. Has been suggested that races subcollaris, hypodila and zambesiana represent one or more separate species, on basis of reduced (or lack of) iridescence in plumage of juveniles (whereas metallic colours present even on nestlings of somereni); further study required. Other proposed races are nigeriae (described from Owerri, in SE Nigeria), considered inseparable from subcollaris; ugandae (from Maraquet, Kenya) and phillipsi (R Lofu, in Zambia), both synonymized with garguensis; jubaensis (Hellesheid, on R Jubba, in S Somalia), merged with elachior; chobiensis (R Chobe, in N Botswana), subsumed in zambesiana; and patersonae (lower R Pungwe, in E Zimbabwe) and beverleyae (R Limpopo, in S Zimbabwe), both considered indistinguishable from zuluensis. Nine subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

subcollaris ( Hartlaub, 1857) - Senegal and Guinea-Bissau E to coastal Nigeria (E to Niger delta).
hypodila ( Jardine & Fraser, 1851) - Bioko I (Fernando Póo).
somereni ( Chapin, 1949) - SE Nigeria E to S Central African Republic and SW Sudan (W of R Nile), S to NW Angola (Cabinda, S to Cuanza Norte and Cuanza Sul) and N DRCongo.

See all 9 subspecies

subcollaris ( Hartlaub, 1857) - Senegal and Guinea-Bissau E to coastal Nigeria (E to Niger delta).
hypodila ( Jardine & Fraser, 1851) - Bioko I (Fernando Póo).
somereni ( Chapin, 1949) - SE Nigeria E to S Central African Republic and SW Sudan (W of R Nile), S to NW Angola (Cabinda, S to Cuanza Norte and Cuanza Sul) and N DRCongo.
djamdjamensis ( Benson, 1942) - SW Ethiopia (R Alghe and R Sagan area).
garguensis ( Mearns, 1915) - S Sudan (E of R Nile), E & SE DRCongo, Uganda, W Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, W Tanzania, W Zambia (S to Ngoma) and CE Angola (Alto Zambesi to Vila Luso and Malanga).
elachior ( Mearns, 1910) - coastal E Africa from S Somalia (S from Jubba S of 4° N) S to Kenya (inland to Kenya Highlands) and NE Tanzania (inland to Moshi and Kilosa, S to Dar es Salaam), also Pemba I, Zanzibar and Mafia I.
zambesiana Shelley, 1876 - NE Angola (Malanje E to Moxico), S DRCongo and SW Tanzania S to S & E Zambia, Malawi, N Botswana, N Zimbabwe (Zambezi valley, Ngamiland and S Barotseland) and C Mozambique.
zuluensis Roberts, 1931 - E highlands of Zimbabwe and S Mozambique (S from Gorongosa) S to E Swaziland and NE South Africa (Mpumalanga, NE KwaZulu-Natal).
collaris ( Vieillot, 1819) - SE South Africa from S KwaZulu-Natal S to Eastern Cape and SE Western Cape (Knysna).