The fork-tailed sunbird (Aethopyga christinae) is a very small bird, 6-9cm only, that have a frequent “zwinkzwink” call and a metallic trill.
This one I found last week up in the cherry blossoms of Kadoorie Farm...
Residents of Hong Kong, they are common and wide spread. They breed between April and June, eventually forming a ball of grass into a nest up in the trees.
Here is the female below, no less lovely but olive and yellow, without his splendour. She. is hanging on to a hibiscus bush at `Lions park in Saikung, but sad to say this whole row of shrubs and habitat has been needlessly torn out.
Here are some more pics of this lovely bird.
This one caught my eye on one of the lower roads in Kadoorie Farm.
Knowing that sunbirds feed on the hibisucs plants along the path, i sat and waited patiently, shooting into the sun in dark shadows, for the shot of the male above.
He was shortly joined by the female, no less lovely but olive and yellow, without his splendour.
To see them, look in the tops of shrubs and trees. The best places i have found include the Pavilions at the top of Kadoorie Farm (especially in February); outside the Mathilda hospital, looking over the sea, on the Peak; and in Lion's park in Sai Kung.
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