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Purple-rumped Sunbird
Leptocoma zeylonica
12.2346, 79.0752
Field Notes
Description:
The Purple-rumped Sunbird (Leptocoma zeylonica) is a sunbird endemic to the Indian Subcontinent. Like other sunbirds, they are small in size, feeding mainly on nectar but sometimes take insects, particularly when feeding young. They can hover for short durations but usually perch to feed. They build a hanging pouch nest made up of cobwebs, lichens and plant material. Males are brightly coloured but females are olive above and yellow to buff below.
Purple-rumped Sunbirds are tiny at less than 10 cm long. They have medium-length thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding.
Habitat:
spotted in my garden in Tamil Nadu, South India
Purple-rumped Sunbird is a common resident breeder in southern India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It is found in Gujarat to the west (possibly a recent expansion and extending into Assam (Hailakandi) or Meghalaya in the east. This species is found in a variety of habitats with trees, including scrub and cultivation and is usually absent from dense forest.
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