sunbird

a male sunbird

a kind of bird – song bird – diurnal (= active during day) – small male birds with glossy, bright coloured feathers and female with drab, grey coloured feathers, medium-sized head with a long downward-curved beak (bill) with a tube-like tongue, short rounded wings, medium-sized flat tail, strong legs and feet;

a female sunbird

size: (varies widely) from 4 inches to 7 inches long, and weight: from 5 grams to 30 grams; feeds on (eats) mostly nectar from the flowers, and also insects; lives on average for 7 years; about 132 species (kinds) found in Africa, Asia and Australia

Special Features:

a sunbird on a flower

The ‘crimson sunbird’ is the national bird of Singapore, Asia.

A sunbird is a small bird, so small that some species can perch (sit) on a flower, while sucking up its nectar, and, occasionally, it can hover (stay in one place while flying), like a humming bird.

A sunbird’s tongue is longer than its beak/bill, which facilitates the bird to suck up nectar even from long funnel-shaped flowers.

It is experimentally proven that a sunbird defends a territory/area consisting of 1,600 flowers!

For an illustrated article on the difference between a sunbird and a hummingbird, please click here.

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