Loten's Sunbird
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| Loten's Sunbird | ||||||||||||||
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| Cinnyris lotenius (Linnaeus, 1766) |
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Nectarinia lotenia |
The Loten's Sunbird or Long-billed Sunbird, Cinnyris lotenius (formerly placed in the genus Nectarinia), is one of a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar.
Sunbirds will also take insects, especially when feeding young and Loten's Sunbird is possibly more insectivorous than other sympatric species.[1] Their flight is fast and direct on their short wings.
The song of the male is a long repeated wue-wue-wue... with the last notes accelerated. The males may sing from the tops of bare trees or telegraph wires.[1] Loten's Sunbird is a resident breeder that is locally common in forest and cultivation in India and Sri Lanka. Two eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. The bag of webs, bark and caterpillar frass.[1]
Loten's Sunbirds are small, only 12-13 cm long. They have long down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding. The bill lengths vary across populations with long bills found on the east of Peninsular India and in Sri Lanka.[2]
The adult male is mainly glossy purple with a grey-brown belly. It is similar to Purple Sunbird, but is larger, has a longer sickle-shaped bill, and a different belly colour.
The eclipse male has yellow-grey upperparts, darker than Purple Sunbird, and a yellow breast with a blue central streak extending to the belly.[1][3] The existence of an eclipse plumage in the adult male has however been questioned.[2] The female has yellow-grey upperparts and yellowish underparts, but lacks Purple's faint supercilium. The call is a buzzy zwick zwick.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp (1998) Birds of India ISBN 0-691-04910-6
- ^ a b Rasmussen, P. C. & J. Anderton 2005. The Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions.
- ^ Santharam,V (1981) Some interesting observations: Eclipse plumage in Loten's Sunbird (Nectarinia lotenia). Newsl. for Birdwatchers, India. 21(9-10), 14-15.
[edit] References
- Reuben, Rachel (1986) Feeding behaviour of Sunbirds, Nectarinia zeylonica and N. lotenia. Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 83(2), 446-447.
- Neelakantan, K. K. (1975) Curious behaviour of a Loten's Sunbird (Nectarinia lotenia). Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 72(3), 858-859.
- Majumdar, N (1981) Extension of range of the Indian Maroonbreasted Sunbird, Nectarinia lotenia hindustanica (Whistler) [Aves, Nectariniidae], and the Northern Jungle Myna, Acridotheres fuscus fuscus (Wagler) [Aves, Sturnidae]. Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 78(2), 383-384.
- Aitken, E. H. (1887) Nest and eggs of Cinnyris lotenia. Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 2(1):52.
