Mrs Gould’s sunbird (Aethopyga gouldiae) loves warm, tropical and subtropical forests….so why does it come to Hong Kong in the Winter? I dunno, but I love that it does!
As the picture above shows...sunbirds somewhat resemble hummingbirds as they’ve evolved to suit their nectar-eating lifestyle, either dipping their beak in and using a long tongue to access the nectar, or even poking a hole through the bottom of any difficult to reach flower with their long, sharp beaks and then siphoning out a meal. Or at least a sip, as they seem to spend a lot of effort flitting around.
So look at that chest plumage....just like a bird dipped into a sunrise...
this is the Juvenile by comparison....you can see his grey mantle of feathers is starting to turn red like the adult above.
And this is the female...quite tame by comparison...
check back tomorrow on how it got its name....
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