Mandai Orchid Garden, Singapore

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Nectariniidae
Genus: Aethopyga
Species: A. siparaja

Binomial name: Aethopyga siparaja
(Raffles, 1822)

The Crimson Sunbird, Aethopyga siparaja, is a sunbird. The sunbirds are a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time.

Crimson Sunbird is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India to Indonesia and the Philippines. Two eggs or three eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. This species is found in forest and cultivation.

Crimson Sunbirds are tiny, only 11cm 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.

In most of the range, males have a long green-blue tail, but A.s. nicobarica of the Nicobar Islands and the former subspecies A. vigorsii (Western Crimson Sunbird) of the Western Ghats of India lack the long central tail feathers. The call is chee-cheewee.

The Crimson Sunbird is the national bird of the Republic of Singapore.

I took this bird’s photos in Mandai Orchid Garden, it’s many there, but they’re quite active, and I was lucky at that time to get the photo when they were flying to suck the nectar. At that time, it’s almost rained, then that bird just appeared about 3 meters, I was using 200mm lens. After took that photo, I was running to avoid the rain, put my camera inside my t-shirt and run. But lucky I got that moment.
You can easily go to Mandai Orchid Garden, it’s 1 bus stop from Singapore zoo. Take the MRT to Ang Mo Kio Station (NS16), then board SBS bus 138.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_Sunbird

Photo Gallery: Crimson Sunbird

The Olive-backed Sunbird, Cinnyris jugularis, also known as Yellow-bellied Sunbird and formerly Nectarinia jugularis, is an Asian sunbird.
Main features: The smallest Sunbird (11cm), bill thin and obviously decurved; distinctive white tips at outer tail feathers.

Male: Metallic blue-black forehead, throat and upper breast, contrasting with bright yellow underparts; upperparts dull olive brown.

Female: Upperparts dull olive brown; underparts all yellow, brighter yellow than other female Sunbirds.
Breeding: Sunbirds form monogamous pairs. The Olive-backed Sunbirds breed in April-August. They build a hanging flask-shaped nest with an overhanging porch at the entrance, and a trail of hanging material at the bottom end. Materials used include plant fibres, mosses, spider’s web. The nest is lined with soft fluffy seeds (e.g., kapok, lallang grass seeds). The outside of the nest is often untidy and decorated with lichens, dead leaves and seed cases. They usually nest low in bushes and trees, but also close to humans and even in high-rise buildings! 2 greenish-blue eggs with dark brown spots and lines are laid. Males usually don’t help in incubation, but may help out in raising the young.

The sunbirds are a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Their flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering[verification needed], but usually perch to feed most of the time.

Male. Olive-backed Sunbird

The Olive-backed Sunbird is common across southern China to the Philippines and Malaysia down to northeast Australia. They are small songbirds, at most 12cm long. The underparts of both male and female are bright yellow, the backs are a dull brown colour. The forehead, throat and upper breast of the adult male is a dark, metallic blue-black.

Originally from mangrove habitat, the Olive-backed sunbird has adapted well to humans, and is now common even in fairly densely populated areas, even forming their nests in human dwellings.

The birds mate between the months of April and August. Both the male and the female assist in building the nest which is flask-shaped, with an overhanging porch at the entrance, and a trail of hanging material at the bottom end.
After building the nest, the birds abandon the nest for about a week before the female returns to lay one or two greenish-blue eggs. The eggs take a further week to hatch. The female may leave the nest for short periods during the day during incubation. After the chicks have hatched, both male and female assist in the care of the young, which leave the nest about two or three weeks later

Source/Reference:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive-backed_Sunbird
• http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=8276&m=0
• http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Nectarina_jugularis.htm
• Morten Strange, “A Photographic Guide to Birds of Malaysia and Singapore: including Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Borneo”, Periplus, 2000 (p. 354: description, voice, habits, distribution, status, photo).

Photo Gallery: Olive-backed Sunbird