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Project Noah Nature School
Leptocoma zeylonica
The female Purple -rumped sunbird is drab compared to the male but is beautiful, nonetheless. The pale yellow shading on the breast and white on the abdomen is a great foil to the brownish wings.
This one is on a potted honeysuckle which it visits daily. Thankfully this plant blooms the year 'round although it takes about a week or so for one round of blooming to wither and fall and another to blossom. But there are usually at least 1 or 2 flowers for the bird at any given time. The creeper with serrated leaves bears tiny red flowers but these do not interest the bird quite so much as the orange Cape honeysuckle does.
Its happy chirping as it sips nectar is a give away to its presence. The bird is fearless and ignores human presence. Also stays on one plant for while going from flower to flower thus giving ample opportunity for a photograph. The male is restless and wary.
Spotted on Oct 3, 2013
Submitted on May 2, 2014
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