Photo © by Alok Tewari
Kate Point, Mahabaleshwar, Western Ghats, Satara, Maharashtra, India,
31 December 2024
- Cinnyris asiaticus
Nectarinia asiatica
Identification
10–11 cm (4-4¼ in) long.
The bill is thin and curved downwards. Their tongues are tubular and brush tipped.
Adult breeding male: Mainly glossy purple.
Adult male, eclipse plumage: Yellow-grey upperparts and a yellow breast with a blue central streak extending to the belly.
Female: Yellow-grey upperparts and yellowish under parts, and a faint supercilium.
Distribution
Asia from the Persian Gulf to Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan tropical Africa.
Taxonomy
Photo © by robby thai
Nam Tok Mae Surin National Park, Thailand, February 2017
This is one of the many Sunbirds that have recently been moved to the genus Cinnyris from the genus Nectarinia.
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- C. a. brevirostris:
- North-eastern Arabia and south-eastern Iran to Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India
- C. a. asiaticus:
- C. a. intermedius:
- Bangladesh to Assam, Myanmar, Thailand and Indochina
Habitat
Forest and cultivation.
Behaviour
Diet
Their main source of food is nectar, though they also eat insects, spiders and fruit, particularly mistletoes and grapes.
Breeding
They build a suspended nest in a tree laying 1-3 eggs.
Flight
Flight is fast and direct. They can take nectar whilst hovering, but more usually perch to feed.
Vocalisation
The call is a humming zit zit.
A complex series of calls forms a song, as heard in the clip below.
Recording by Alok Tewari
Faridabad, Haryana, India, Aug.-2016
Recorded in an urban garden.
Gallery
Click images to see larger version
Immature
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Faridabad, Haryana, India, May 2016
Male : Eclipse transitioning to breeding plumage
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Keoladeo National Park, India, December 2016
Breeding male
Photo © by Seyed Babak Mus
Bam town, Iran
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Trek Nature
- Cheke, R. and C. Mann (2020). Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.pursun4.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Purple Sunbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Purple_Sunbird
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
