14. Sun Birds : The shiny birds with the sword-like beaks

I find the sun birds to be one of the commonest specie found all over India. You will suddenly see a small glimmer in the sunlight and know it is there. Where there are flowers with nectar, there are sunbirds. Though they also eat insects like spiders.

Purple Sunbird

                

Purple Sunbird

cinnyris asiaticus 10cm. 

Characteristics : Since childhood I have been fascinated by this tiny, almost black bird, shining like metal in the sun. My dad pointed out once that the bird instead of reaching for the nectar from the front of the flower was taking a short-cut by piercing it from the side with its curved beak. He said it was cheating the flower as it was not getting pollinated. That image has somehow remained with me. 

piercing the flower!

Sometimes they take nectar while hovering like a hummingbird.  The females are olive brown above and yellow below. The non breeding males have yellow underparts with a black streak in the centre.

Non breeding male

There is also a bright blue shoulder patch on breeding males and a maroon shine around the collar is visible during the breeding season.

Distribution : It is a widely distributed resident from West Asia to the sub-continent and SE Asia.

Breeding : The breeding season is April to June in India. The nest is a hanging pouch made with grass and other plant material held together with cobwebs. Normally 2 eggs are laid and incubated by the female. The male shares in feeding the chicks.

Aethopyga siparaja seheriae (seen in Manali HP)

Aethopyga siparaja vigorsii (seen in Lonavla Mah.)

Crimson Sunbird

Aethopyga siparaja vigorsii

Aethopyga siparaja seheriae

 Size  10 cm

Characteristics : The male has a metallic blue-green crown, the nape is brown with a greenish sheen, the sides of the head, neck, back and upper wing coverts are crimson, rump is bright yellow and the lower wing coverts are dark brown, tail is a shiny black with a violet hue, the central feathers metallic green and longer than the rest of the tail; and the abdomen a dull grey shade. It is amazing how in 10 cms of space so many colors can be contained. The first time I saw this bird through a pair of fieldglasses in Panchgani, I had been totally mesmerised by the play of colours in the setting sun light. The female is a dull olive green, the wings and tail are brown, with a yellow patch under the wings.

Distribution : The Aethopyga siparaja vigorsii is found along the Western ghats which has a metallic patch behind the ear which is not there in its Himalayan counterpart ,the Aethopyga siparaja seheriae.

Purple Rumped Sunbird

leptocoma (Nectarinia) zeylonica 10cm.

Purple Rumped Sunbird

Characteristics : the upperparts of the bird are a mix of red and green and purple which glistens with a metallic sheen in the sun, it also has a maroon breast band. The lower parts are yellow. The rump is a metallic purple which has earned him his name. The female has a olive brown back and lower parts are yellow with a greyish throat and a darker shoulder patch.

Distribution : It is a resident bird. Widespread in Central and South India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and can be found in a variety of habitats except perhaps thick forests. This little fellow for instance was a regular visitor to my terrace when the Aloe vera bloomed.

Breeding : It breeds during the monsoons but may have more than one brood during the year. They make these hanging pouch shaped nests with grass and cover it on the outside with cobweb and nick-nacks. They lay 2-3 brown spotted eggs 

 

Loten’s Sunbird

cinnyris lotenius 13cm. 

Loten’s Sunbird

Characteristics : Often mistaken for the purple Sunbird, Loten’s has a longer beak and a maroon band on the breast. The female lacks the Purples’ supercillium. The breeding male sometimes displays yellow pectoral tufts as can be seen in the picture. (This little fellow was in the habit of napping outside my bedroom window.) 

It is named after Joan Gideon Loten, a Dutch Governor of then Ceylon, in colonial times.

Distribution : It is a resident bird.  Only found in Central and South India, and Sri Lanka.

Breeding : November to March is the breeding season in India and February to May in Sri Lanka. The nest is built by the female the eggs exclusively incubated by her. The male helps in feeding the chicks.