Whyte's double-collared sunbird (''Cinnyris whytei'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Nectariniidae Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly i ...

. It was considered a subspecies of

Ludwig's double-collared sunbird Ludwig's double-collared sunbird (''Cinnyris ludovicensis'') or the montane double-collared sunbird, is a small passerine bird which breeds in forested mountains above in western Angola as well as the Nyika Plateau of northern Malawi and northe ...

. It is found in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

, and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical dry

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Taxonomy

In 1948 C.W. Benson described the subspecies ''C. afer whytei'' collected in the highlands of

Nyassaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasalan ...

(

). He named it after Mr Alexander Whyte who collected the first two specimens of the species in 1896. After reorganizations of this confusing complex of species it was later placed as a subspecies of ''Cinnyris ludovicensis'' and still later treated as a full species. In the

Eastern Arc Mountains The Eastern Arc Mountains is a chain of mountains found in Kenya and Tanzania. The chain runs from northeast to southwest, with the Taita Hills being in Kenya and the other ranges being in Tanzania. They are delimited on the southwest by the fau ...

a new subspecies (''C. w. skye'') was observed in 2000. Thereafter extensive research followed including molecular phylogenetic studies on the complex of African double collared sunbird taxa. The sunbirds found in the highlands of

and Tanzania appeared to constitute a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

which strongly differed from

, ''C. ludovicensis''. Therefore, ''C. whytei'' has been split from ''C. ludovicensis''. There are two subspecies: * ''C. w. whytei'' in Zambia and Malawi * ''C. w. skye'' in the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania.

References

Whyte's double-collared sunbird Whyte's double-collared sunbird {{Nectariniidae-stub