#Nectariniidae

[herpsandbirds]

Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus) male feeding on nectar, family Nectariniidae, order Passeriformes, India

photograph by Arindam Saha

[uncharismatic-fauna]

The Palestine Sunbird Persists

The Palestine sunbird, also known as the orange-tufted sunbird (Cinnyris osea) is the national bird of Palestine, and often seen as a symbol of resistance and hope. This species occurs in dry climates, particularly desert, scrubland, and savannahs, but can also be found in orchards and gardens where flowers are abundant. In addition to the Levant, C. osea occurs throughout the southwest cost of Saudia Arabia and the coasts of Yemen and Oman in the south.

C. osea is a small bird, 8 to 12 cm (3.1-4.7 in) long with a wingspan of only 14 to 16 cm (5.5-6.2 in). Males weigh on average 7.6 g (0.26 oz) and females are slightly smaller, at about 6.8 g (0.24 oz). Males are quite easy to identify due to their striking plumage; their feathers are iridescent, appearing dark until they shimmer glossy blue or green, with orange tufts at the side of the breast. In contrast females are fairly drab; grey-brown with a lighter underside. The beaks of the Palestine sunbird are also noted for their distinctively long and curved, which they have developed to efficiently feed on nectar.

Although not directly part of the hummingbird family, the Palestine sunbird shares many similarities with the group. Its diet consists of nectar, and is supplemented with insects. Their tongues are long, and brush-like, and the shape of their beak allows them to reach down to the base of the flower. For flowers that are , they will use their sharp beaks to pierce the side and access the nectar directly. All this is done at very high speeds, but unlike hummingbirds the Palestine sunbird cannot hover in place, and must land in order to feed. Because of their primary reliance on nectar, the orange-tufted sunbird is an important pollinator in its native region. Adults are rarely predated upon, but eggs and young are often targets for lizards, snakes, and birds of prey.

Reproduction begins in June, and continues through October. Males establish and defend territories, and court females by singing to attract a potential mate, then chasing her until she perches to signal her acceptance. Following the pairing, the two construct a purse-like nest, sometimes with a porch-like structure, that hangs from a branch. In this nest, 1-2 eggs are laid, and are incubated primarily by the female, while the male provides her food. The eggs take 13 to 14 days to hatch, and chicks are taken care of by both parents for an additional 14 to 21 days. Individuals can live up to 5 years in the wild.

Conservation status: The Palestine sunbird has a large range and population, and is thus considered Least Concern by the IUCN. Its primary threat is habitat loss due to agriculture and urban development.

If you send me proof that you’ve made a donation to UNRWA or another organization benefiting Palestinians, I’ll make art of any animal of your choosing.

Remember, the donation can be in any amount– every dollar counts!

Photos

Jorrit Vlot

Dula Alhashimi

Rana Hijawi

[snototter]

A Palestine sunbird (Cinnyris osea) perches on a hibiscus

by Artemy Voikhansky

I have had several Palestinian bloggers reach out to this blog for help with their GoFundMe campaigns in dire need of donations. If you can spare even a few dollars for just one of these campaigns, it could change somebody's whole life. If you can't, please reblog this post and share to people who potentially can.

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@ronzaanqar - Helping Ahmed's Family: Escaping War to a New Life €59,330 raised of €75,000 vetted and on the spreadsheet

Mohammed M Siam - Help Mohammed Rebuild His Home And Complete His Education $15 raised of $25,000 vetted by association & extremely low on funds!!

@yosef-hussin - Evacuate Kareem & Carmen NOW from Gaza $12,037 raised of $50,000 vetted by 90s-ghost

@yasermohammad - Help my Uncel’s family , BE THE CHANGE €21,989 raised of €35,000 vetted by 90s-ghost

@anasbatran - help me save my family from the war on Gaza, $5,685 raised of $35,000, in the process of being vetted and seems legitimate

@samaagaza - Help me and my family in Gaza $1,075 AUD raised of $20,000, vetted as far as i can tell

@d-mohammed - Safe my Family €4,557 raised of €100,000 donation protected + campaign was verified at one point but the post for that can no longer be found

@familyetaf1234567 - Please help us get out of life's crises and the woes of war. €1,898 raised of €50,000 not yet vetted but ris is clean + donation protected

@asma-family - Help Asmaa Abed Find Safety $837 raised of $20,000 , not yet verified but donation protected

@severekidpersona - Help osama and his family in Gaza €60 raised of €37,000 not yet vetted/verified

[alonglistofbirds]

[2683/11080] Copper-throated sunbird - Leptocoma calcostetha

Order: Passeriformes Suborder: Passeri Superfamily: Passeroidea Family: Nectariniidae (sunbirds and spiderhunters)

Photo credit: Forest Botial-Jarvis via Macaulay Library

[birdblues]

Purple-rumped Sunbird

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

Garden Sunbird?

(Cinnyris jugularis)

Oh these are gorgeous!

Photos of a male and female, respectively.

[podartists]

The Shining Creeper, Certhia famosa [Pl. 19]

[birding-with-tortoise]

purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus), female

Sighted at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India

[vogelpsittacines]

hummingbirds, sunbirds & honeyeaters

Sunbirds (Nectariniidae)

the 'Hummingbirds' of Africa and Asia (and also Australasia)

*see below for species names*

Similarities between hummingbirds and sunbirds:

Brilliantly colored males, often iridescent

Sexually dimorphic females with duller plumage

Long, curved bills and specialized tongues adapted for efficient nectar feeding

Feed primarily on nectar but supplement diets with insects and spiders (especially for their young)

Prefer long, tubular flowers in red or orange hues

Important flower pollinators, aiding ecosystem biodiversity.

Can enter torpor to conserve energy

Short wings enable rapid flight; hummingbirds excel at hovering, sunbirds primarily perch

Highly active feeders, often territorial over high-quality nectar sources

Despite these similarities, sunbirds and hummingbirds are not very closely related. In fact, hummingbirds are more closely related to swifts and sunbirds are more closely related to crows — so the striking similarities between these two groups of tiny, colorful birds are analogies that evolved through convergent evolution.

This concept also applies with honeyeaters.

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Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae)

the 'Hummingbirds' of Australia (more accurately Australasia)

*see below for species names*

What is unique about the honeyeaters is the evolutionary development of their tongue and beak. The tongue is long and has a brush-tip, fringed with bristles and works like a paint brush to soak up nectar by capillary action. The upper mandible then compresses any liquid out when the bill is closed. An operculum over their nares protects their nasal cavity from pollen.

Some differences between hummingbirds and honeyeaters:

Less nectarivorous and more insectivorous than hummingbirds

Supplement their diet with insects, but also occasionally fruits (hummingbirds almost never do)

Mostly larger in size

Perch while feeding; some hover hummingbird-style

Often flock while feeding

Territorial defence of flowers seems less common

Here's an interesting study about honeyeaters

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Some more interesting stuff:

Highly recommend to read more

Honeyeaters have curved beaks and a highly specialized, extendable, brush-tipped tongue with a pointed tip; sunbirds have long curved-downward beaks and brush-tipped tube-shaped tongues; hummingbirds typically have straight or downward curving beaks and tongues with hairs at the end to help them sip nectar.

Figure 1: 1 Palestine Sunbird, Israel; 2 Malachite Sunbird, South Africa; 3 Green-headed Sunbird, Uganda; 4 Northern Double-collared Sunbird, Uganda; 5 Beautiful Sunbird, Ghana; 6 Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird, India; 7 Bronze Sunbird, Tanzania; 8 Orange-breasted Sunbird, South Africa; 9 White-breasted Sunbird, South Africa; 10 Olive-backed Sunbird, Australia; 11 Southern Double-collared Sunbird, South Africa; 12 Green Sunbird, Uganda; 13 Souimanga Sunbird, Madagascar; 14 Collared Sunbird, South Africa; 15 Blue-headed Sunbird, Uganda; 16 Malagasy Green Sunbird, Madagascar; 17 Olive-bellied Sunbird, Ghana; 18 Green-tailed Sunbird, Thailand; 19 Copper Sunbird, Ghana; 20 Eastern Crimson Sunbird, Thailand; 21 Green-throated Sunbird, Uganda; 22 Streaked Spiderhunter, Thailand; 23 Tacazze Sunbird, Ethiopia; 24 Red-chested Sunbird, Uganda; 25 Black-throated Sunbird, Thailand; 26 Regal Sunbird, Uganda; 27 Purple Sunbird, India

Figure 2: (a) crow honeyeater1 (Gymnomyza aubryana), (b) barred honeyeater1 (Gliciphila undulata), (c) New Holland honeyeater2 (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae), (d) tūī1 (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae), (e) white-eared honeyeater3 (Nesoptilotis leucotis), (f) yellow-faced honeyeater1 (Caligavis chrysops), (g) crescent honeyeater1 (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus), (h) noisy miner2 (Manorina melanocephala), (i) eastern spinebill1 (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris), (j) New Caledonian myzomela1 (Myzomela caledonica), (k) white-plumed honeyeater1 (Ptilotula penicillata), (l) New Caledonian friarbird1 (Philemon diemenensis), (m) dusky myzomela2 (Myzomela obscura), (n) dark-brown honeyeater1 (Lichmera incana), (o) yellow wattlebird1 (Anthochaera paradoxa), (p) yellow honeyeater2 (Stomiopera flava), (q) bell miner3 (Manorina melanophrys), (r) white-naped honeyeater3 (Melithreptus lunatus), (s) white-fronted chat2 (Epthianura albifrons), (t) spiny-cheeked honeyeater3 (Acanthagenys rufogularis). Image credits: Matthias Dehling, Eleanor Hay, Steven Chown

[kaijaxon]

This chart was made by L. Shyamal from Wikimedia Commons!

Copied from the file information, the species shown are:

Generalist: House Crow

Insect catching: Stylized flycatcher based on Asian Brown Flycatcher

Grain eating: Eurasian Bullfinch

Coniferous-seed eating: Red Crossbill

Nectar feeding: Stylized sunbird

Fruit eating: Keel-billed Toucan

Chiseling: White-bellied Woodpecker

Dip netting: Brown Pelican

Surface skimming: Black Skimmer

Scything: Pied Avocet

Probing: Ibisbill

Filter feeding: Caribbean Flamingo

Aerial fishing: Pied Kingfisher

Pursuit fishing: Red-breasted Merganser

Scavenging: Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

Raptorial: Stylized hawk based on Crested Goshawk

Visual Comparison Of Bird Beaks And Their Uses

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Word List: Sun

beautiful words with "sun" to help illuminate your poem/story

Sunback - having a low-cut back for tanning and coolness—used of an article of wearing apparel

Sunbaked - heated, parched, or compacted especially by excessive sunlight

Sunbath - an exposure to sunlight or a sunlamp

Sunberry - the edible fruit of the black nightshade; also called wonderberry

Sunbird - any of numerous small brilliantly colored oscine birds (family Nectariniidae) of the tropical Old World somewhat resembling hummingbirds

Sunblind - awning (i.e., a rooflike cover extending over or in front of a place as a shelter)

Sunblink - a glimmer of sunlight

Sunbow - an arch resembling a rainbow made by the sun shining through vapor or mist

Sunchoke - Jerusalem artichoke

Sundeck - the usually upper deck of a ship that is exposed to the most sun; a roof, deck, or terrace for sunning

Sunder - to become parted, disunited, or severed

Sundew - any of a genus (Drosera of the family Droseraceae, the sundew family) of bog-inhabiting insectivorous herbs having leaves covered with gland-tipped adhesive hairs

Sundial - an instrument to show the time of day by the shadow of a gnomon on a usually horizontal plate or on a cylindrical surface

Sundress - a dress with an abbreviated bodice usually exposing the shoulders, arms, and back

Sunfall - sunset

Sunfast - resistant to fading by sunlight

Sunfish - any of numerous North American freshwater bony fishes (family Centrarchidae, especially genus Lepomis) usually with a deep compressed body and metallic luster

Sunflower - any of a genus (Helianthus) of New World composite plants with large yellow-rayed flower heads bearing edible seeds that yield an edible oil

Sunglow - a brownish yellow or rosy flush often seen in the sky before sunrise or after sunset that is due to solar rays scattered or diffracted from particles in the lower and upper air

Sungrazer - any of a group of comets whose perihelions are very close to the sun and which are often destroyed by their close approach to it

Sunless - lacking sunshine; dark, cheerless

Sunpocket - solar trap (i.e., a garden or terrace so oriented as to take advantage of the sun while protected from cold winds)

Sunporch - a screened-in or glassed-in porch with a sunny exposure

Sunscald - an injury of woody plants (such as fruit or forest trees) characterized by localized death of the tissues and sometimes by cankers and caused when it occurs in the summer by the combined action of both the heat and light of the sun and in the winter by the combined action of sun and low temperature to produce freezing of bark and underlying tissues

Sunseeker - a person who travels to an area of warmth and sun especially in winter

Sunsquall - a large jellyfish

Sunstone - aventurine (i.e., a translucent quartz spangled throughout with scales of mica or other mineral)

Sunstruck - affected or touched by the sun

Sunup - sunrise

Sunwise - clockwise

If any of these words make their way into your next poem/story, please tag me, or leave a link in the replies. I would love to read them!

More: Word Lists

[herpsandbirds]

Copper-throated Sunbird (Leptocoma calcostetha), male, family Nectariniidae, order Passeriformes, Philippines

photograph by Sy Jru

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

The Palestinian sunbird is quite beautiful, and fits both its common name and scientific name very well; among ornithologists its known as Cinnyris osea. The word Cinnyris comes from the Greek kinnyris, which referred to a small bird common in Ancient Greece (possibly another species of sunbird), while osea is derived from the word ὁσια (hosia) which means "holy".

(Image: A male Palestinian sunbird (Cinnyris osea) by Raphaël Jordan)

This little bird is quite resilient-- as are the people of Palestine. You can donate to UNICEF here to support relief work in Gaza.

[snototter]

A male Palestine sunbird (Cinnyris osea) feeds from flowers in Oman

by Iordan Hristov

Donate to the Palestine Childrens Relief Fund

Donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians

Donate E-Sims to Gaza

[captious-solarian]

As usual, females are a lot drabber and lack the iridescent patterns, but they do have the cool curved beak:

Female copper-throated sunbird in southern Thailand. Photo by Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok, 2017.

Sunbirds have a lot in common with hummingbirds: eat lots of nectar, can hover, small, bright iridescent colours, stupid long schnozz. This is convergent evolution and they're not closely related at all.

[2683/11080] Copper-throated sunbird - Leptocoma calcostetha

Order: Passeriformes Suborder: Passeri Superfamily: Passeroidea Family: Nectariniidae (sunbirds and spiderhunters)

Photo credit: Forest Botial-Jarvis via Macaulay Library

[birdblues]

Variable Sunbird