Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 20. (ca. 1799). Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40. / https://ansp.org/research/library/archives/0000-0099/coll0040/
Additional Source Text:
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) wrote, in his 20th Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. 396. Famous Creeper. size of a Linnet; length 9 Inches. Bill one Inch & a quarter long, and black; tongue the length of the bill; the whole plumage is green gold, with a gloss of copper; on each side, under the shoulders, is a fine yellow spot, which the wing will cover; greater wing coverts and quills blackish edged with green; tail of a bright black; the 2 middle feathers are two and a half Inches longer than the others, and are edged with gold and copper green on both sides; feet and claws black. The female has a less brilliance of plumage. Certhia famosa Linn. Le Grimpereau à longue queue du Cap de Bonne Espérance. Pl. enl. 83. f. 1. Famous Creeper. Latham." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "In these before us are an infinite variety of plumage; in some the green and yellow equals the emerald and topaz; others the amethist or saphire [sic] is strikingly represented; the [...] greatest [...] equaled in the Collared Creeper (C. Chalybea) of Africa." (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481)
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Malachite Sunbird
Current Scientific Name
Nectariniidae | Nectarinia famosa
