From the appearance of the long downward curved bills, I suspect the above bird is from the family of Sunbirds belonging to the species of Little spider hunter ! It was after a while I noticed a spider hunter in our garden. The male and female birds have similar plumage.
The Purple-rumped sunbird has thicker and shorter bills as in the photo below.
What took me to find out some details about these birds today, is because of the similarities in their complexion and features.
From among the birds visiting our garden, these two species looked almost same to me for a long time till I noticed that the the spider hunters seemed to feed on nectar and spiders on flowers, while the Purple-rumped sunbirds seem to search for insects on the branches of the trees in the gaps of the bark.
What a gift of insight bird watchers and Ornithologists have given us by looking out for features to sub classify birds taking into consideration the differences in the plumage and habitat!
The creation around us receives a mystical touch when we consider that even small morphological differences have been noticed and published. The attention given to know more about birds in order to honour them with the status and description they highly deserve is a heritage we have received from many bird lovers!
I wonder whether we pause to think of the adverse effects we leave behind for the avian species, when we change the environment that they are used to!
Every time we cut a tree or trim branches in our garden, the birds visiting our garden decreased for weeks. They keep away from inhospitable places.
I want to gratefully remember all those who made efforts to bring advanced awareness for preserving bird life !
It is only in the recent years that Anna and I felt drawn towards birds. We feel glad for the inspiration that we received from Dr Sanjeeth Peter, a cardiac surgeon, who takes regular vacations to visit different places to study about birds. He publishes a calendar every year with photos of new birds he spotted in the year. He sends out to friends phots of birds every month with the calendar of the month in a format that can be used in the computer screen! What a way to spread his passion for birds! Because he is a musician and pianist, he can orally reproduce musical notes of the bird calls tunefully!
What a delight it is to have boards visit and greet us in our garden!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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