Crimson Sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja) - HBW 13, p. 313

Taxonomy: Certhia siparaja Raffles, 1822, Sumatra.
Forms a superspecies with A. vigorsii, and often treated as conspecific. Geographical variation sometimes well marked; some distinctive races, e.g. seheriae and magnifica, perhaps merit separation at species level. Conversely, poorly differentiated heliogona may be better synonymized with nominate; also labecula with seheriae, and these two intergrade in N West Bengal and Bhutan. Nominate race intergrades with trangensis on W coast of Malay Peninsula. Many additional races described, all considered insufficiently distinct to warrant recognition: thus, off W Sumatra, tinoptila (from Pulo Siumat, near Simeulue I), heliophiletica (Pulo Bangkaru, in Banyak Is), niasensis (Nias I), melanetra (Pulo Lasia), siberu (Siberut I) and photina (North Pagai I) are included in nominate, as also is ochropyrrha (Pulo Rittan, in Anamba Is); mussooriensis (Mussoorie, N India), miles (Nepal), andersoni (Sawaddy, E of Bhamo, in N Myanmar) and viridicauda (Tengyueh, in Yunnan, in S China) all subsumed in seheriae; terglanei (Bangladesh) included in labecula, and heliotis (Domel I, in Mergui Archipelago) synonymized with cara; and marinduquensis (Barrio Canat, Boac, Marinduque), formerly erroneously treated as a race of Leptocoma sperata, is merged with magnifica. In addition, there may be a further undescribed race in Bangladesh. Fifteen subspecies recognized.