Purple-throated Sunbird (Nectarinia sperata)
Order: PASSERIFORMES
Family: NECTARINIIDAE Sunbirds, Spiderhunters
Scientific name: Nectarinia sperata
English name: Purple-throated Sunbird
Characteristic: Size 10 cm. Both sexes are markedly different from esch other. A male has brilliant metallic green head; chin and throat are shining purple; dark maroon breast; back to rump bluish green, wings and tail dark brown. A female simply has a sullied green back and a yellowish belly.
Distribution: Eastern Pakistan, Assam, the Sundas, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Myanmar.
Habitat: Dry evergreen forest, dipterocarp forest and secondary growth.
Habit: Fond of flowering shrubs and trees, where it will be seen busily feeding on nectar and uttering continuously its characteristic call. Small insects and spiders are also its staple diet. A pendulous nest made roughly roughly of dry leaves and grasses is hung at a branch tip. Breeding takes place between March-July.
Status: A common resident.
