Purple Sunbird

Bengal Birds -7 (মৌটুসী , দুর্গা টুনটুনি)

Sunbird is the a creature (only 12-13 cm long) which I first managed to capture through my lens in great detail and to my satisfaction! They live on honeys from different kind of flowers and thus are commonly known as ‘moutushi/durga tuntuni’ (mou=honey) in Bengal. Their small size and very fast movement make them very difficult to capture. So, it took quite a significant amount of my leisure time to frame this beautiful bird.

Usually they are very active during mornings and afternoons. Therefore throughout March-April, my morning used to start with hearing their call, locating them and a hope that they will be close enough to give me an opportunity to shoot them with my gears. After chasing almost a month, fibnally I could manage to take picture of this male purple sunbird on breeding plumage, that too only from about 10 feet distance. I could hear its call from a distant tree and was sincerely hoping that it will come and sit somewhere near to me. And it exactly happened like that. Within few seconds, probably listening to my prayer and proving Shahrukh Khan’s common dialogue in almost all of his movies (when you pray something sincerely the whole world conspires….blah.blah.blah) true, it flew in and sat exactly where I wanted it to be! I couldn’t be happier with the shot. Great details of its long bill, eye and feathers say it all.

Once I started to spot the male sunbird, the Female Purple Sunbird was not that difficult to find! It appears to me that the sunbirds are family birds. Both male and female are equally engaged in raising their offspring. Seeing a couple of sunbird fledglings made me happy as it indicates that the next generation is ready to fly and in some way they are surviving in my locality.

মৌটুসী , দুর্গা টুনটুনি

There is clear distinction between male and female as shown in above images.

Resident of West Bengal.

• They love to sit on high-branches or high structures (poles, mobile towers etc.)
• Besides fish, they are also found in garden area to catch lizards etc.

• My Home
• Rabindra Sarobar Lake
• Chetla Forest
• Banbitan (বনবিতান), Saltlake
• CKBS