From Opus

Male Crimson Sunbird
Photo by mehdhalaouate

Alternative names: Yellow-backed Sunbird; Goulpourah Sunbird; Eastern Crimson Sunbird

Aethopyga siparaja

Includes: Western Crimson Sunbird

[edit] Identification

Crimson Sunbirds are tiny, only 11 cm long. They have medium-length thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding.

The adult male has a crimson breast and maroon back. The rump is yellow and the belly is olive. The female has an olive-green back, yellowish breast and white tips to the outer tail feathers.

[edit] Distribution

Found from India east over the Himalayas, southwest China, Indochina, Malaysia and the Philippines to Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi (Indonesia).

[edit] Taxonomy

Aethopyga siparaja has 15 subspecies.
Vigorsii from western India is sometimes split as Western Crimson Sunbird, the rest of the species then named Eastern Crimson Sunbird.

[edit] Habitat

Found in forest, scrub and gardens below 1,800.

[edit] Behaviour

Feeds on nectar, insects and spiders.
Two eggs or three eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. In India it's parasitised by the Asian Emerald Cuckoo. Like all sunbirds this species has a fast and direct flight with their short wings. They can hover like hummingbirds, but usually perch to feed most of the time.

[edit] External Links