Loten's Sunbird
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| Loten's Sunbird | ||||||||||||||
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| Cinnyris lotenius Linnaeus, 1766 |
The Loten's Sunbird or Long-billed Sunbird, Cinnyris lotenius 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. Their flight is fast and direct on their short wings.Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time.
Loten's Sunbird, (formerly classied as Nectarinia lotenia), is a fairly common resident breeder in forest and cultivation in India and Sri Lanka. Two eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree.
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 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. The female has yellow-grey upperparts and yellowish underparts, but lacks Purple's faint supercilium. The call is a sharp chit chit.
Reference
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6