Day 59 - Sunbird acrobatics with the hibiscus

I have many friends who tell me excitedly that they saw a hummingbird, here in the city.  It seems to be a common mistake to confuse our dear Sunbirds with the hummingbirds of the Americas.

Both are nectar-feeding flower-loving little delights.  

Sunbirds (Nectariniidae) – Old World only: Africa, South & Southeast Asia, parts of Australia.  Hummingbirds (Trochilidae) – New World only: the Americas and they are quite tiny as well.

The purple-rumped female sunbird does not have any purple but is still such a little delight.

Upside down she goes, inserting her beak into the hibiscus.  Nectar is her main food, though she will hunt and provide the chicks a protein-rich diet by fetching spiders and little insects for them.

I marvel at that curved sharp beak, the slender legs and the various hues of brown  and hints of orange/brown in the wings.  Those thin legs can grasp at the thinnest of twigs and slenderest of branches.

And she is the ballet queen, dancing all over the hibiscus.

With apologies to the original Catch me if you can lyrics.

Here’s the story of lady sunbird who plays

She definitely does not have feet of clay

Sing of Olive  Olive and yellow belly, 

she hums like a butterfly and sips like a bee...
Lady Sunbird, the yellow flying queen, 

she calls to the other birds ‘I’m Su- uh nn-yee, catch me if you can."

I did catch her this once.  On film.