Sunbird

No, it's not a hummingbird, but a male olive-backed sunbird (Nectarina jugularis) hiding in a heap of Heliconias at the Botanic Gardens. They do hover a little sometimes, but without the sustained dexterity of true hummingbirds, which are found only in the Americas and are in a different taxonomic order (Trochiliformes) – meaning hummingbirds and sunbirds (which as passerines belong to the same huge order as crows, mynahs and thrushes) are as closely related as cats and camels, i.e. not very much. This little guy was quiet, which is unusual as these sunbirds are typically exuberantly chirpy. The smallest and most common of the local sunbird species, the olive-backed sunbird has adapted well to urban environments, finding sustenance in imported flowers and even hanging their flask-shaped nest on HDB corridor shrubbery and other hazardous spots.    

The Gardens are a veritable riot on Sundays. From the depths of the little rainforest in the middle of the park, I could hear groups of Chinese visitors shouting screaming to each other from the edge of the palm valley, vastly outdoing the cicadas and crickets. Perhaps not surprisingly, the ducks were missing from the Symphony Lake.

On the left is a female (or sub-adult male) Asian paradise-flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradis), now showing at a park/garden/wood near you. Suay Hwee, whom I encountered at Nee Soon two Sundays ago, pointed out the bird to my bird-blind duck; there was another male  close-by and they appeared to be part of a mini bird wave with some striped tit-babblers and bulbuls.

Comments

[Mable]

Fantastic photo, as always! Thanks for alerting me about the revamped NParks website. It certainly looks nicer than before.