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Sunbird drinking nectar from typical bird-pollinated flower As nectar is a primary food source for sunbirds, they are important pollinators in African ecosystems. Sunbird-pollinated flowers are typically long, tubular, and red-to-orange in colour, showing convergent evolution with many hummingbird -pollinated flowers in the Americas. [ 10 ]
The collared sunbird (Hedydipna collaris) is a bird species of the family Nectariniidae. The sunbirds are a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. The collared sunbird is in fact mainly insectivorous. Male in a garden grapevine Female in nest
The purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus) is a small bird in the sunbird family. It occurs in parts of the Arabian peninsula and South and Southeast Asia. It has a fast and direct flight and can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird but often perches at the base of flowers. It feeds mainly on nectar and insects, especially when feeding young.
The nest is lined with soft fibres such as from the fuzz covering the seeds of Calotropis. [8] The nest is placed on the end of branch and the entrance usually faces a bush. [9] Nests may sometimes be built close to buildings or under open porches. [10] The female stays in the nest at night a couple of day before laying the eggs.
Clockwise from top left: ruby-cheeked sunbird, collared sunbird, Loten's sunbird, little spiderhunter, fire-tailed sunbird, and malachite sunbird. Nectariniidae is a family of passerine birds in the superfamily Passeroidea, comprising the sunbirds and spiderhunters. [1] Members of Nectariniidae are also known as nectariniids. [2]
This sunbird is common in gardens, fynbos, forests and coastal scrub. The southern double-collared sunbird breeds from April to December, depending on region. The closed oval nest is constructed from grass, lichen and other plant material, bound together with spider webs.
The elongated hanging nest is 30–60 cm (12–24 in) in length and has a hooded side entrance. It is usually placed between 0.5 and 1.5 m (1 ft 8 in and 4 ft 11 in) above the ground but can occasionally be as high as 10 m (33 ft).
The garden sunbird (under the name olive-backed sunbird) formerly included 21 subspecies and had a range that extended from Southeast Asia to Australia. Based on the difference in the male plumage and a genetic study comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences of some of the subspecies, the olive-backed sunbird was split into eight species.