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Purple Sunbird
Cinnyris asiaticus
30.1271, 78.3295
Field Notes
Description:
It is a small sunbird. Like other sunbirds they feed mainly on nectar, exactly like this on the photo, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. They have a fast and direct flight and can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird but often perch at the base of flowers. Photo shows the male specimen, they appear all black except in some lighting when the purple iridescence becomes visible. Females are olive above and yellowish below.
Habitat:
The species is distributed widely from West Asia through the Indian Subcontinent and into Southeast Asia. They are resident birds in most parts of their range and do not move large distances. They are found mainly on the plains but going up to 2400 m in southern India and up to 1700 m in the Himalayas. They are found in thin forest and garden land, including those in dense urban areas. Local movements are however noted especially in the drier parts of northwestern India and Pakistan where they are said to arrive in large numbers before summer.
The nominate subspecies is distributed in India east of the desert region and south of the Himalayas extending to the west and south of India and Sri Lanka. The race brevirostris is designated for the populations in the dry zone of the west from the Arabian Peninsula into Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan until the dry zone of Rajasthan and Gujarat. These may however winter south near Goa. This form has a slight tinge of green in the pectoral yellow tufts. The race intermedius extends from the border of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh northwards into Bangladesh, Myanmar and Indochina.
Notes:
These birds are very vociferous and will call and will join to mob owls or other predators. The song is rapid rattle followed by ringing, metallic notes. Other call notes include a "chwit" or "chwing!" notes. The primary breeding season is before the Monsoons, April to June in northern India and January to June in Sri Lanka. While feeding they flick their wings. They rarely hover at flowers and usually perch to forage for nectar. They are important pollinators of some plant species such as Butea monosperma, Acacia,Woodfordia and Dendrophthoe but they sometimes steal nectar by slitting flowers such as Hamelia patens at the base. Unfortunately I wasn't able to determinate the little tree it was standing on and colecting nectar. They are known to feed on small berries such as those of Salvadora persica. They have also been known to feed on cultivated grapes.Insects are sometimes caught by flycatching.
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