Purple Sunbird

Sitting on a roof-top in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar just off Chengam Road one kilometre west of Ramana Nagar, I noticed this beautiful Purple Sunbird enjoying his perch on an electricity pole.

Purple Sunbird on Electricity Pole

The Purple Sunbird (Nectarinia Asiatica) is small (about the size of a sparrow) with a slender, curved bill and a tubular tongue, which is well adapted for feeding on the nectar of flowers The male Purple Sunbird has two distinct types of plumage. The breeding male is characterised by the metallic bluish-black body, and the tuft of crimson and yellow feathers under each wing. In contrast, the non-breeding male Purple Sunbird has a much duller ‘eclipse’ plumage resembling the female, with yellow underparts and a dark line of feathers running down the centre of the throat and breast.

The female is a brown to olive-brown above, pale dull yellow below – but with darker wings and a broad black stripe running down middle of breast.

Mature Male Purple Sunbird

This bird which is common throughout Tiruvannamalai District prefers gardens, gardens, cultivated and scrub country and also light deciduous forest.

Its diet consists mostly of flower nectar as can be ascertained from its long, curved beaked, which is adapted for probing and sucking flower nectar. However the bird also feasts on insects and spiders and fruits.

This bird is often seen in pairs or small groups in which as many as 40 to 50 individuals have sometimes been noted.

Purple Sunbird Immature Male

A sharp monosyllabic 'wich, wich' uttered as it flits about This species is known to defend its territory by singing and chasing intruders.

In courtship displays the male raises its head, fans its tail and flutters with partly open wings that expose the pectoral tufts and sings before the female.

Female Sunbird

Purple Sunbird Male Molting

Sunbird in Flight

Nesting season flexible mostly March to May.The nest is a pouch made of cobwebs, thin strips of vegetation, lichens and bark. The entrance hole on the side is often shaded by a overhanging projection. The nest is built almost entirely by the female. The nest material is not woven and most of it is held together by cobwebs. About five to ten days may be taken in the building of the nest. The inner cavity is expanded by the bird by openings its wing and turning around on the inside.

Male Purple Sunbird
feeding young in nest

Only the female builds the nest and incubates the eggs which hatch after 15 to 17 days. There are usually 2 or 3 greyish or greenish white eggs marked with various shades of brown and grey. Males assist in feeding the chicks although females involve themselves to a greater extent, making more trips as the chicks get older.

Purple Sunbird feeding on Nectar

Asian Paradise-flycatcher

The Asian Paradise-flycatcher, also known as the Common Paradise-flycatcher is a medium sized Passerine bird. Neighbours with a wooded garden mentioned to me that they had a pair of Flycatchers nesting in their garden some years back, but for me this week was my first actual sighting of the beautiful adult white male Asian Paradise Flycatcher.

I spotted the bird at a lily pond near Samudram Erie. The lily pond which is skirted by trees is cool, inviting and enjoys the presence of many birds, and as the Flycatcher is very territorial, may well be its current permanent place of occupation.

I now understand why this bird has been described as looking ‘fairy-like’ as it appeared ethereal in presence with its graceful, darting movements and tail feathers trailing behind it.

Fairy Like Male Adult

The below video is a short take of the bird in flight.







However this beautiful white male bird is in fact similar to the rufous colour of the female in the first few years of its life.

Sub Adult Male Before Colour Change

Female Bird

As a sub-adult the male's head is glossy black with a black crown, crest and eyes and the female is red on the back with a greyish throat and underparts. But as the male adult matures, its rufous plummage moults into white with a central pair of tail feathers growing into 30 cm long streamers. The function of the long tail is assumed to be related to sexual selection, with females choosing males based on the length of the tail.

Adult Male After Rufous Moulting

The Paradise-flycatcher inhabits thick forests and well-wooded habitats all over India. It is both migratory and residential, and the climate of tropical South India hosts both visiting migrants and locally breeding birds.

This bird is noisy with sharp skreek call. It has short legs and sits upright whilst perched prominently. It feasts on insects using a variety of techniques, including hawking from a perch.

Chick in Nest

Breeding season for this monogamous bird is April-August during which time the female lays 3-4 pink eggs. The nest is a tiny cup of grasses, roots, fibers and leaves bound together with cobweb and plastered on the outside with egg-bags of spiders. The eggs are incubated by both the male and female.

To view videos of this bird, including nest building videos go to this link here.