Beautiful Sunbird

Beautiful Sunbird

Cinnyris pulchellus

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered
Daily sighting probability Insufficient data
at Lake Nakuru National Park
2 Verified sightings at Lake Nakuru National Park From 2019 to 2026
3,004 Verified sightings across all 23 parks From 2019 to 2026
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted during daytime hours (6am–6pm)

About the Beautiful Sunbird

The beautiful sunbird (Cinnyris pulchellus), formerly placed in the genus Nectarinia, is a small passerine bird in the sunbird family Nectariniidae. It is native to tropical Africa, its range extending from Senegal and Guinea in the west to Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya in the east. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the gorgeous sunbird (Cinnyris melanogastrus).

The beautiful sunbird was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Certhia pulchella. Linnaeus based his account on "Le grimpereau à longue queue du Sénégal" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. The specific epithet is from Latin pulchellum meaning "very pretty" or "beautiful little". Formerly placed in the genus Nectarinia, the beautiful sunbird is now one of 64 sunbirds placed in the genus Cinnyris that was introduced in 1816 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. It was previously considered to be conspecific with the gorgeous sunbird (Cinnyris melanogastrus) but the species were split based on the differences in morphology... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Niokolo-Koba National Park 🇸🇳 Senegal
~60%
2 Awash National Park 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
~40%
3 Ruaha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~30%
4 Amboseli National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~20%
5 Tarangire National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
6 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~20%
7 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
8 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
9 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
10 Mkomazi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
11 Kidepo Valley National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
12 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
13 Arusha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
14 Nairobi National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
15 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
16 Mikumi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
Insufficient data
17 Semuliki National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
Insufficient data
18 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
Insufficient data
19 Kibale National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
Insufficient data
20 Lake Nakuru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
Insufficient data
21 Lake Mburo National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
Insufficient data
22 Virunga National Park 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
Insufficient data
23 Tsavo East National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
Insufficient data
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