Editing Sugarbird

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{for|the bird of the Americas sometimes known as the sugarbird|Bananaquit}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Cape Sugarbird (Promerops cafer).jpg
| image_caption = Male [[Cape sugarbird]] (''Promerops cafer'')
| parent_authority = [[Nicholas Aylward Vigors|Vigors]], 1825
| taxon = Promerops
| authority = [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]], 1760
| type_species = ''[[Cape sugarbird|Merops cafer]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 
See text.
}}

The '''sugarbirds''' are a small [[family (biology)|genus]], '''''Promerops''''', and family, '''Promeropidae''', of [[passerine]] [[bird]]s, [[Endemism|restricted]] to southern Africa.  In general appearance and habits, they resemble large, long-tailed [[sunbird]]s or some of the Australian [[honeyeater]]s, but are not closely related to the former and are even more distantly related to the latter. They have brownish plumage, the long downcurved bill typical of passerine nectar feeders, and long tail feathers.

==Taxonomy and systematics==
The [[genus]] ''Promerops'' was introduced by the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] in 1760 with the [[Cape sugarbird]] (''Promerops cafer'') as the [[type species]].<ref>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés | language=fr, la | at=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010432 Vol. 1, p. 34], [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36011800 Vol. 2, p. 460] | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Paynter | editor-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1986 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=12 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=449 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482566 }}</ref> The name of the genus combines the [[Ancient Greek]] προ ''pro'' "close to" or "similar" and the genus'' [[Merops (genus)|Merops]] ''that contains the [[bee-eaters]].<ref name=hbwkey>{{cite web | last=Jobling | first=J.A. | year=2019 | title= Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url=https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/promerops | access-date=3 April 2019 }}</ref>

The relationships of the sugarbirds have been a source of considerable debate. They were first treated as a far-flung member of the [[honeyeater]] family, which is otherwise restricted to the Australasian region. Using egg white proteins in the 1970s, Sibley and Ahlquist mistakenly placed them with the starlings (the samples used were actually those of [[sunbird]]s). They have also been linked to the thrushes ([[Turdidae]]) and the sunbirds. Molecular studies find support for few close relatives, and they are treated as a [[monotypic]] family at present,<ref name = "HBW"/> although they form a clade with the [[Modulatricidae]], three enigmatic African species formerly placed with the [[Old World babbler]]s and thrushes.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Beresford |first1=P. |last2=Barker |first2=F.K. |last3=Ryan |first3=P.G. |last4=Crowe |first4=T.M. |date=May 2005 |title=African endemics span the tree of songbirds (Passeri): molecular systematics of several evolutionary 'enigmas' |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=272 | issue=1565 | pages=849–858 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2004.2997 | doi-access=free | pmid=15888418 | pmc=1599865}}</ref><ref name=oliveros>{{ cite journal | last1=Oliveros | first1=C.H. | display-authors=etal | year=2019 | title=Earth history and the passerine superradiation | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume=116 | issue=16 | pages=7916–7925 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1813206116 | pmid=30936315 | doi-access=free | pmc=6475423 | bibcode=2019PNAS..116.7916O }}</ref>

=== Genetic diversity ===
Both species have been shown to exhibit exceptionally high genetic diversity at both [[microsatellite]] and [[Mitochondrial DNA|mitochondrial]] loci, with no signs of [[inbreeding]] and large [[Effective population size|effective population sizes.]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Haworth|first1=Evan S.|last2=Cunningham|first2=Michael J.|last3=Calf Tjorve|first3=Kathleen M.|date=2018-06-13|title=Population diversity and relatedness in Sugarbirds (Promeropidae: ''Promerops'' spp.)|journal=PeerJ|language=en|volume=6|pages=e5000|pmid=29915704|doi=10.7717/peerj.5000|doi-access=free|pmc=6004301 |hdl=2263/66416|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

==Species==
The genus contains two species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Dapple-throats, sugarbirds, fairy-bluebirds, kinglets, hyliotas, wrens, gnatcatchers | work=World Bird List Version 9.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sugarbirds/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=4 April 2019 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image !! Scientific name !! Common Name !! Distribution
|-
|[[File:Gurney's Sugarbird, Promerops gurneyi at Marakele National Park (14142942643).jpg|120px]] || ''Promerops gurneyi''  || [[Gurney's sugarbird]]||  Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe
|-
|[[File:Cape Sugarbird (Promerops cafer) 2.jpg|120px]] || ''Promerops cafer'' || [[Cape sugarbird]] ||  Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa.
|-
|}

==Description==
[[File:SugarBird.jpg|thumb|Female cape sugarbird, note the protruding tongue]]
The two sugarbird species are medium-sized [[passerine]]s that weigh between {{convert|26|and|46|g|oz|abbr=on}} and are {{convert|23|to(-)|44|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length. Between {{convert|15|and|38|cm|in|abbr=on}} of that length is in their massively elongated tails, the tails of the Cape sugarbird being overall longer than those of Gurney's sugarbird. In both species, the tail of the male is longer than the female, although the difference is more pronounced in the Cape sugarbird. In overall body size, the males are [[sexual dimorphism|slightly larger]] and heavier than the females. Both species have long and slender [[beak|bill]]s that are slightly curved, and again the females have a slightly shorter bill, leading to differences in feeding [[Ecological niche|niches]]. The skull and tongue morphologies of the sugarbirds are very similar to that of the honeyeaters, the result of [[convergent evolution]]. The tongue is long and protrusible, and is tubular and frilled at the end.<ref name ="HBW"/>

==Distribution and habitat==
Gurney's sugarbird is found from [[Zimbabwe]] southwards, except the extreme south of South Africa, where it is replaced by the Cape sugarbird in the Cape provinces of South Africa. It has at times been considered conspecific with Gurney's. The distribution of Gurney's sugarbird is disjunct, and currently  two [[subspecies]] are accepted, one in the north and one further south.

Sugarbirds are dependent on ''[[Protea]]''  and are found in protea scrub. The Cape sugarbird is found in [[fynbos]] and has also moved into gardens and nurseries.

==Behaviour and ecology==
[[File:Gurney's Sugarbird (Promerops gurneyi).jpg|thumb|Gurney's sugarbird]]

Nectar from the [[inflorescence]]s of the ''Protea'' provide most of the energy these birds require, and they are considered significant pollinators of the genus. The birds' diet is supplemented by insects attracted to the inflorescences.<ref name ="Tjorve">{{ cite journal | last1=Tjørve | first1= K | last2=Geertsema | first2=G. | last3=Underhill | first3=L. | year=2005 | title=Do sugarbirds feed on arthropods inside or outside ''Protea'' inflorescences? | journal=Emu | volume=105 | issue=4 | pages=293–297 | doi=10.1071/MU04042 | bibcode= 2005EmuAO.105..293T }}</ref> Studies of their diets found that bees in the family [[Apidae]] and [[fly|flies]] formed a large part of the diet and that the insects were obtained by hawking.

The breeding behaviour and nesting habits of the two species of sugarbird are very similar.<ref name = "HBW">{{Citation | first = Dawid | last = de Swardt | editor-last = Josep | editor-first = del Hoyo | editor2-last = Andrew | editor2-first = Elliott | editor3-last = David | editor3-first = Christie | contribution = Family Promeropidae (Sugarbirds) | title = [[Handbook of the Birds of the World]]. Volume 13, Penduline-tits to Shrikes | year = 2008 | pages = 486–497 | place = Barcelona | publisher = Lynx Edicions | isbn = 978-84-96553-45-3 }}</ref> Sugarbirds are [[monogamy in animals|monogamous]], and male sugarbirds defend [[territory (animal)|territories]] during the breeding season.<ref name ="Calf">{{cite journal | last1 = Calf | first1 = K | last2 = Downs | first2 = C | last3 = Cherry | first3 = M. | year = 2003 | title = Territoriality and breeding success in the Cape sugarbird (''Promerops cafer'') | journal = [[Emu (journal)|Emu]] | volume = 103 | issue = 1| pages = 29–35 | doi = 10.1071/MU01071 | bibcode = 2003EmuAO.103...29C }}</ref>  Females lay two eggs in a  nest in a fork of a tree.

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140715072338/http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/sugarbirds-promeropidae Sugarbird videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

{{Passerida|P.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q855761}}

[[Category:Promerops|*]]
[[Category:Birds of Southern Africa]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson]]