Ceylon nectar bird

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Ceylon nectar bird
Ceylon nectar bird (Nectarinia zeylonica, female)

Ceylon nectar bird ( Nectarinia zeylonica , female)

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Passeroidea
Family : Nectar birds (Nectariniidae)
Genre : Nectarinia
Type : Ceylon nectar bird
Scientific name
Nectarinia zeylonica
( Linnaeus , 1766)
Ceylon nectar bird, male

The Ceylon nectar bird ( Nectarinia zeylonica , Syn .: Leptocoma zeylonica ) is a small songbird (Passeri) from the family of nectar birds (Nectariniidae) and the order of passerine birds (Passeriformes).

features

The species reaches a length of 10 cm and shows sexual dimorphism . The males have a shiny green skull and shoulder patches. The rest of the head and the top are glossy dark. The ends of the outer tail feathers are lightly colored white. The head of the female is pale gray in color, the back is gray-brown, the brown tone of the wings is lighter and the breast is less bright yellow.

Spread and endangerment

The bird lives in tropical South Asia, Bangladesh , India , Myanmar and Sri Lanka . The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) classifies the species as not endangered (Least Concern, LC) due to its large distribution area and the apparently stable population.

nutrition

The Ceylon nectar bird mostly feeds on nectar, but occasionally also on insects, especially when feeding the young. When eating the nectar from the blossoms of the mangroves Bruguiera gymnorrhiza and B. sexangula, the birds' head feathers stick together, so they have to spend a lot of time cleaning.

Systematics

There are two subspecies:

  • Nectarinia zeylonica flaviventris (Hermann, 1804) - India and Bangladesh.
  • Nectarinia zeylonica zeylonica - Sri Lanka.

literature

  • Sálim Ali, S. Dillon Ripley: Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 10: Flowerpeckers to Buntings. 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Delhi et al. 1999, ISBN 0-19-563708-9 , p. 24.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Harrison: A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. 2nd edition. Illustrations by Tim Worfolk. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-958566-3 , p. 172.
  2. ↑ Leptocoma zeylonica in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010.4. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  3. ↑ B. Nagarajan, M. Krishnamoorthy, C. Pandiarajan, A Manimekalan: Can sweetness be difficult to handle when in excess? In: Current Science. Vol. 96, No. 11, 2009, ISSN  0011-3891 , p. 1433, online (PDF; 2.26 MB) .
  4. ↑ Videos, photos and sound recordings of Purple-rumped Sunbird (Leptocoma zeylonica) in the Internet Bird Collection , accessed on January 17, 2010

Web links

Commons : Ceylon nectar bird  - album with pictures, videos and audio files