Context: With the arrival of spring, the male Purple Sunbird transforms into a beautiful dark purple with a metallic purplish-to green-blue head, mantle, and breast which can sometimes have a maroon shine.

About Purple Sunbird

• The Purple Sunbirds (Cinnyris asiaticus) are small, nectar-feeding birds that belong to the sunbird family.

• Their extensive natural range stretches from West Asia through the Indian Subcontinent and into Southeast Asia.

• They share many similarities with the New World ("Americas") hummingbirds, as they are also able to hover in front of flowers to retrieve nectar.

• Purple Sunbirds are mostly resident (non-migratory) and are distributed from sub-Saharan tropical Africa, the eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula through the Indian sub-continent and into Southeast Asia.

• They inhabit thin forests, but are also found in gardens and even in dense urban areas, where they are usually observed near flowering shrubs and trees.

• The breeding male is a metallic blue and purple overall with maroon feathers on the breast whereas the female is olive above and yellow below.

• Females can be distinguished from female Purple-rumped Sunbirds by its yellow throat.

• Purple Sunbirds mostly feed on nectar which is hovering in front of the flowers like a hummingbird, but generally, they prefer to perch in front of them to retrieve the nectar.

The sub-species of Purple Sunbird are:

• Indian Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus asiaticus) – It is found in east of the Indian desert region and south of the Himalayas extending to the west and south of India and Sri Lanka.

• Short-billed Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus brevirostris) – It is found in Eastern Arabian Peninsula, including northern United Arab Emirates, northern and central Oman, as well as southeastern Iran, eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan and western India (western regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat). 

• Long-billed Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus intermedius) – Its range is from Assam south to the border of Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh northwards into Bangladesh east to Myanmar, southern China (southern Yunnan) and Indo-China.

• They are mostly found singly or in pairs and sometimes in small groups around flowering trees like the Yellow Oleander, Flame of the Forest (Butea monosperma), and Hamelia patens (a common avenue hedge or small tree in our city).

• It is listed as ‘Least Concern’ under IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.