Purple sunbird

Purple sunbird
Male intermedius in breeding plumage
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Nectariniidae
Genus: Cinnyris
Species: C. asiaticus
Binomial name
Cinnyris asiaticus
Latham, 1790
Synonyms

Arachnechthra intermedia
Nectarinia mahrattensis

The purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus) is a small sunbird. Like other sunbirds they feed mainly on nectar, 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. The males appear all black except in some lighting when the purple iridescence becomes visible. Females are olive above and yellowish below.

Description

Purple sunbird (female)

This small sunbird has a relatively short bill, a dark and short square ended tail with distinctive sexual dimorphism. Less than 10 cm long they have a down-curve bill with brush-tipped tubular tongues that aid in nectar feeding. The male is glossy metallic purplish black on the upper parts with the wings appearing dark brown. The breeding male has the underparts also of the same purplish black, but non-breeding males may show a central streak of black on yellow underparts. (Birds in this eclipse plumage were once designated as a species, C. currucaria.[2]) In the breeding plumage, the male can be confused with the syntopic Loten's sunbird which has a long bill and distinctive broad maroon band on the breast. Breeding males will sometimes show their yellow pectoral tufts in displays. There is a patch of bright blue on the shoulder of breeding males.[3] The maroon shine on the feathers of the collar around the neck is visible mainly during the breeding seasons.[4][5][6][7][8]

Females are olive brown above with yellowish underside. There is a pale supercilium beyond the eye. There is a darkish eye stripe. The throat and breast are yellow becoming pale towards the vent. The outer tail feathers are tipped in white both in the male and female.[3]

They are seen in pairs or small groups and aggregations may be found in gardens with suitable flowers. They feed mainly on nectar but also take fruits and insects. Groups of as many as 40 to 50 individuals have sometimes been noted.[9]

Distribution

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 in thin forest and garden land, including those in dense urban areas.[3] 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.[10]

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. They are found mainly on the plains but going up to 2400 m in southern India and up to 1700 m in the Himalayas. The race brevirostris is found in the dry zone from the Arabian Peninsula into Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan until the dry zone of Rajasthan and Gujarat. These may however winter south near Goa.[11] This form has a slight tinge of green in the pectoral yellow tufts.[4] The race intermedius extends from the border of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh[12] northwards into Bangladesh, Myanmar and Indochina.

These movements of these birds are not well understood. A male ringed in Bharatpur was recovered in Dehra Dun, 350 km north.[9]

Behaviour and ecology

Male in eclipse plumage

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.[3] While feeding they flick their wings.[2] They rarely hover at flowers and usually perch to forage for nectar. They are important pollinators of some plant species such as Butea monosperma,[13] Acacia,[14] Woodfordia[15][16] and Dendrophthoe.[17] but they sometimes steal nectar by slitting flowers such as Hamelia patens at the base.[18] They are known to feed on small berries such as those of Salvadora persica.[19] They have also been known to feed on cultivated grapes.[20] Insects are sometimes caught by flycatching.[21]

Male intermedius with yellow pectoral tuft visible

In courtship displays the male raises its head, fans its tail and flutters with partly open wings that expose the pectoral tufts and sings before the female.[9] The nest is a pouch made of cobwebs, thin strips of vegetation, lichens and bark. The entrance hole on the side is often shaded by an overhanging projection. The nest is built almost entirely by the female. The nest material is not woven and most of it is held together by cobwebs. About five to ten days may be taken in the building of the nest. The inner cavity is expanded by the bird by openings its wing and turning around on the inside.[22] In Sri Lanka and in southern India, it sometimes builds its nest by modifying and lining the cobweb structures formed by colonial or 'social' spiders, Stegodyphus sarasinorum (Eresidae).[23][24] Two eggs are usually laid.[2][9] The nest is usually suspended from a low branch, often of thorny plants[25] but are sometimes build close to human habitations, attached to wires or other man-made objects[26][27] and even indoors in an unused toilet.[28][29][30] Only the female incubates the eggs which hatch after 15 to 17 days. Males assist in feeding the chicks[31] although females involve themselves to a greater extent, making more trips as the chicks get older.[32]

Sunbirds have been known to live for nearly 22 years in captivity.[33]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Nectarinia asiatica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Jerdon, T.C. (1862). The Birds of India. 1. Military Orphan Press. pp. 370–372.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Rasmussen P.C.; Anderton, J.C. (2005). Birds of South Asia" The Ripley Guide. 2. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. p. 548.
  4. 1 2 Gadow, Hans (1884). Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum. Volume 9. British Museum, Taylor & Francis. pp. 56–60.
  5. ↑ Ticehurst, C.B. (1918). "The plumage of the Purple Honeysucker Arachnecthra asiatica". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26 (1): 286–287.
  6. ↑ Dewar, Douglas (1906). "The plumage of the cock Purple Honeysucker (Arachnecthra asiatica) A query?". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 17 (2): 540–541.
  7. ↑ Dewar, Douglas (1911). "Indian Sunbirds". Journal of the Foreign Bird Club: 129–134.
  8. ↑ Finn, Frank (1898). "Note on the seasonal change of plumage in the males of the Purple Honeysucker (Arachnechthra asiatica) and of an analogous American bird (Coereba cyanea)". Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal. 67 (2): 64–66.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Ali, Salim & S.D. Ripley (1999). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. 10 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 34–39.
  10. ↑ Dewar, Douglas (1908). "Local bird-migration in India". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 18 (2): 343–356.
  11. ↑ Koelz, Walter (1942). "Notes on the birds of the Londa neighbourhood, Bombay Presidency". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 43 (1): 11–38.
  12. ↑ Majumdar, N. (1980). "Occurrence of the Bengal Black Robin, Saxicoloides fulicata erythrura (Lesson) [Muscicapidae: Turdinae], and the Assam Purple Sunbird, Nectarinia asiatica intermedia (Hume) [Nectariniidae] in Orissa State". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 77 (2): 334.
  13. ↑ Tandon, R.; Shivanna, K.R.; Mohan Ram, H.Y. (2003). "Reproductive Biology of Butea monosperma (Fabaceae)". Annals of Botany. 92 (5): 715–723. doi:10.1093/aob/mcg193. PMC 4244857Freely accessible. PMID 14500327.
  14. ↑ Stone, G.N.; Raine, N.E.; Prescott, M.; Willmer, Pat G. (2003). "Pollination ecology of acacias (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae)." (PDF). Australian Systematic Botany. 16: 103–118. doi:10.1071/SB02024.
  15. ↑ Raju, A.J.S. (2005). "Passerine bird pollination and seed dispersal in Woodfordia floribunda Salisb. (Lythraceae), a common low altitude woody shrub in the Eastern Ghats forests of India.". Ornithological Science. 4 (2): 103–108. doi:10.2326/osj.4.103.
  16. ↑ Raju, A.J.S.; Rao, S.P.; Ezradanam, V. (2004). "Bird-pollination in Sterculia colorata Roxb. (Sterculiaceae), a rare tree species in the Eastern Ghats of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari Districts of Andhra Pradesh." (PDF). Current Science. 87 (1): 28–31.
  17. ↑ Rahman, M.M.; Baksha, M.W.; Sterringa, J.T. (1993). "Ethological observations of the purple sunbird (Nectarinia asiatica Latham): a mistletoe-frequenting bird". Indian Forester. 119 (5): 388–394.
  18. ↑ Ede, J.A.M. (1945). "Sunbirds and flowers.". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 45 (2): 234.
  19. ↑ Hoffmann, Thilo W. (1993). "Fruit eating by Sunbirds of the Genus Nectarinia in Sri Lanka". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 90 (2): 291–292.
  20. ↑ Sharma, Suneel; Kashyap, R.K. (1999). "Purple Sunbird Nectarinia asiatica (Latham) – a new pest of grapes under agroclimatic conditions of Hissar, Haryana". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 96 (2): 322.
  21. ↑ Nair, Manoj V. (1994). "Flycatching by Sunbirds Nectarinia asiatica (Latham)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 91 (3): 457.
  22. ↑ George, Joseph (1958). "Nest construction technique of the Purple Sunbird". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 55 (3): 420–428.
  23. ↑ George, Joseph, ed. (1994). Annotated checklist of the birds of Bangalore. Birdwatchers' Field Club of Bangalore.
  24. ↑ Singh, Baljit (1963). "The nesting habits of the purple sunbird". 3 (6): 3.
  25. ↑ Whistler, Hugh (1949). Popular Handbook of Indian Birds (4th ed.). Gurney & Jackson. pp. 268–270.
  26. ↑ Shipp, W.E. (1922). "Curious nesting site chosen by the Purple Honey Sucker Arachnethra asiatica". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 28 (4): 1136.
  27. ↑ Sangha, Harkirat S. (1999). "An unusual nesting site of Nectarinia asiatica". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 96 (3): 475.
  28. ↑ Rahmani, Asad R.; Sankaran, Ravi (1990). "An unusual nesting site of the sunbird". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 87 (1): 148–149.
  29. ↑ Munidasa, K.G.H. (1969). "Unusual nesting site of the Purple Sunbird, Nectarinia asiatica (Latham)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 66 (1): 169–171.
  30. ↑ George, Joseph (1957). "A Sunbird's unusual nesting site". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 54 (4): 943–944.
  31. ↑ Ghadirian, T.; Qashqaei, A.T.; Dadras, Mohsen (2007). "Notes on Feeding and Breeding Habits of the Purple Sunbird Nectarinia asiatica (Cinnyris asiaticus) in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan, Southern Iran" (PDF). Podoces. 2 (2): 122–126.
  32. ↑ Sethi, V.K.; Bhatt, D.; Kumar, A. (2010). "On the patterns of parental provisioning by the Purple Sunbird Nectarinia asiatica". The Sunbird. 40 (2): 39–47.
  33. ↑ Flower, Stanley Smyth (1938). "Further notes on the duration of life in animals. IV. Birds". Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Ser. A (2): 195–235. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1938.tb07895.x.

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