Sunbirds and Spiderhunters

India's answer to hummingbirds, though the resemblance is only skin deep — sunbirds hover for a flower now and then, but mostly they perch to feed, bracing on a stem and reaching or hanging in to a bloom rather than hanging in mid-air. Fifteen species are recorded across the country, from tiny plain-backed Purple Sunbirds working garden hibiscus in the plains to the long-tailed, high-elevation specialists of the eastern Himalaya. The two spiderhunters in the family are the odd ones out: plainer, heavier-billed birds that raid spider webs for prey as much as they take nectar.

Males in this family are built for display — iridescent throat and crown patches that flash colour only when the light and angle line up, and look almost black otherwise. Females are uniformly duller, usually olive above and pale yellow below, and in several species pairs look close to identical; separating them reliably often comes down to range and the male accompanying them. A flowering shrub in season is the easiest way to find any of them — sunbirds will work a good bush for as long as it keeps producing nectar, giving far more time at the frame than most small forest birds allow.