Archive for 'Nectariniidae'

Principe sunbird (Anabathmis hartlaubii)

Principe sunbird (Anabathmis hartlaubii)

I arrived in Principe just in time to enjoy the birds building nests or just in the early stages of incubation. I even followed a pair in the process of completing a nest just outside the window of my room. I found this male further inland from the hotel, an it’s is most likely guarding […]

Black-throated sunbird (Aethopyga saturata)

Black-throated sunbird (Aethopyga saturata)

Jigme Dorji National Park, Bhutan Sunbirds are strikingly colorful, and you definitely get associations to the hummingbirds of the New World. Depending on the angle of the light the colors might seem bland or like flashes of iridescence, but come rain or shine, they are colorful. This was shot on a cloudy day, and the […]

Fire-tailed sunbird (Aethopyga ignicauda)

Fire-tailed sunbird (Aethopyga ignicauda)

Driving ever higher, seeing more and more frost from last night, together with larger and larger patches of snow, one might not expect to see such lavishly colored birds. At least not so small – which means there must be lots of nectar producing plants up here to provide sufficient energy to stay in shape. […]

Seychelles Sunbird (Cinnyris dussumieri)

Seychelles Sunbird (Cinnyris dussumieri)

As the name implies this is a species endemic to Seychelles, but fortunately it is so common it is not threatened. You will see it on many of the larger islands, and on Bird Island where I shot this picture. On Bird Island you get much closer to them than on Praslin and Mahe, where […]

Seychelles Sunbird (Cinnyris dussumieri)

Seychelles Sunbird (Cinnyris dussumieri)

As the name implies this is a species endemic to Seychelles, but fortunately it is so common it is not threatened. You will see it on many of the larger islands, and on Bird Island where I shot this picture. On Bird Island you get much closer to them than on Praslin and Mahe, where […]

Socotra Sunbird (Chalcomitra balfouri)

Socotra Sunbird (Chalcomitra balfouri)

A Socotra sunbird drinking nektar from the flowers of the endemic Trichocalyx obovatus. These two species are likely locked evolutionary, as the Socotra sunbird is the only resident bird species with a curved and long beak that reaches the bottom of the flower, and thus is rewarded with pollen on its head to be transferred […]

Socotra Sunbird (Chalcomitra balfouri)

Socotra Sunbird (Chalcomitra balfouri)

A Socotra sunbird sitting in a flowering cucumber tree (Dendrosicyos socotranus).