by Krishna Mohan
Male Loten's Sunbird with spider in its mouth
I found this male Loten’s Sunbird in my garden the other day with spider in its mouth. The Loten’s Sunbird or Long-billed Sunbird, Cinnyris lotenius (formerly placed in the genus Nectarinia), is one of a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar. Sunbirds will also take insects, especially when feeding young and Loten’s Sunbird is possibly more insectivorous than other sympatric species. Their flight is fast and direct on their short wings.
Male Loten's Sunbird
Long bill separates this from the sympatric Purple Sunbird. The wings are browner and the maroon breast band is visible on the male under good lighting. The call is distinctive and they are also very active often bobbing their head while foraging.
The song of the male is a long repeated wue-wue-wue… with the last notes accelerated. The males may sing from the tops of bare trees or telegraph wires. Loten’s Sunbird is a resident breeder that is locally common in forest and cultivation in India and Sri Lanka. Two eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. The bag of webs, bark and caterpillar frass.
Loten’s Sunbirds are small, only 12-13 cm long. They have long down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding. The bill lengths vary across populations with long bills found on the east of Peninsular India and in Sri Lanka.
The adult male is mainly glossy purple with a grey-brown belly. It is similar to Purple Sunbird, but is larger, has a longer sickle-shaped bill, and a different belly colour.
The eclipse male has yellow-grey upperparts, darker than Purple Sunbird, and a yellow breast with a blue central streak extending to the belly. The existence of an eclipse plumage in the adult male has however been questioned. The female has yellow-grey upperparts and yellowish underparts, but lacks Purple’s faint supercilium. The call is a buzzy zwick zwick.
Found only in peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The main region is along the Western Ghats and into the southern peninsula. There are scattered records from central India and into the northern Eastern Ghats near Orissa. Race hindustanicus is found in India while the nominate race is found in Sri Lanka.
EXIF info…
Camera:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:
EF400mm f/5.6L USM
Exposure Mode:
Auto exposure
Exposure Time:
1/320 sec.
Exposure Bias:
0.0
Aperture (F Stop):
f/5.6
ISO Used:
400
Flash Used:
Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode.
White Balance:
As Shot
Focal Length:
400.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2009:05:25 13:55:31
GPS Location in Google Map:
13° 4' 2.1" N, 74° 59' 44.5" E, 0 m.a.s.l.
Copyright ©
Krishna Mohan
All rights Reserved. This Image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or trasmitted in any forms or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying & recording without my written permission. If you’d like to make usage request, just ask: drkrishi@drkrishi.com
EXIF info…
Camera:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:
EF400mm f/5.6L USM
Exposure Mode:
Auto exposure
Exposure Time:
1/320 sec.
Exposure Bias:
0.0
Aperture (F Stop):
f/5.6
ISO Used:
400
Flash Used:
Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode.
White Balance:
As Shot
Focal Length:
400.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2009:05:25 13:55:49
GPS Location in Google Map:
13° 4' 2.1" N, 74° 59' 44.5" E, 0 m.a.s.l.
Copyright ©
Krishna Mohan
All rights Reserved. This Image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or trasmitted in any forms or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying & recording without my written permission. If you’d like to make usage request, just ask: drkrishi@drkrishi.com
Tags: birds, Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM, Canon EOS 5D mark II, Cinnyris lotenius, Loten's Sunbird, Moodabidri, sunbird
Posted in Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Comments (8)
by Krishna Mohan
Breakfast
I was strolling in my backyard trying to get some bird with my Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM. Birds were elusive on that day. What I saw was this dragonfly, but since I had not taken my macro lens with me, I quickly fixed 36mm extension tube to 400mm lens so as to make it a macro lens and shot these pics of this Slender Skimmer Dragon Fly a.k.a Green Marsh Hawk (Orthetrum sabina) feasting on a nice juicy fly.
Orthetrum sabina
Size: Male: Abdomen: 30-36mm, Hind wing: 30-36mm.
Female: Abdomen: 32-35mm, Hind wing: 31-35mm
Description: Male: Face is yellowish green. Eyes: Green mottled with black. Thorax: Greenish yellow with black tiger like stripes. Legs: Black; inner side of anterior femora is yellow. Wings: Transparent; inner edge of hindwing tinted with yellow. Wing spot: Black with reddish brown spot. Abdomen: The segments 1-3 are green with broad black rings and distinctly swollen at the base. Female: Is very similar to the male.
Habits and habitat: A common dragonfly of gardens and fields. This dragonfly perches motionless on shrubs and dry twigs for a long time. Hawks flying insects such as flies, small butterflies and dragonflies. This species can be seen far away from water and occassionally enters houses at night attracted by the light. Breeding: Breeds in ponds and tanks.
Flight season: Throughout the year.
Distribution: Widely distributed in Ethiopian, Oriental and Australian region. It is found throughout Indian subcontinent upto an altitude of 2000m ASL.
EXIF info…
Camera:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:
EF400mm f/5.6L USM
Exposure Mode:
Manual exposure
Exposure Time:
1/60 sec.
Exposure Bias:
0.0
Aperture (F Stop):
f/6.3
ISO Used:
400
Flash Used:
Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode.
White Balance:
As Shot
Focal Length:
400.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2009:05:14 07:47:17
GPS Location in Google Map:
13° 4' 2.1" N, 74° 59' 44.3" E, 1269 m.a.s.l.
Copyright ©
Krishna Mohan
All rights Reserved. This Image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or trasmitted in any forms or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying & recording without my written permission. If you’d like to make usage request, just ask: drkrishi@drkrishi.com
EXIF info…
Camera:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:
EF400mm f/5.6L USM
Exposure Mode:
Manual exposure
Exposure Time:
1/125 sec.
Exposure Bias:
0.0
Aperture (F Stop):
f/6.3
ISO Used:
400
Flash Used:
Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode.
White Balance:
As Shot
Focal Length:
400.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2009:05:14 07:49:00
GPS Location in Google Map:
13° 4' 2.1" N, 74° 59' 44.3" E, 1269 m.a.s.l.
Copyright ©
Krishna Mohan
All rights Reserved. This Image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or trasmitted in any forms or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying & recording without my written permission. If you’d like to make usage request, just ask: drkrishi@drkrishi.com
Tags: Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM, Canon EOS 5D mark II, dragonfly, feeding, Green Marsh Hawk, Insect, Kenko extension tube set, Moodabidri, Orthetrum sabina, Slender Skimmer
Posted in Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Comments (3)
by Krishna Mohan
Prinia
The Grey-breasted Prinia, Prinia hodgsonii, is a small warbler. This prinia is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka and southeast Asia. This skulking passerine bird is typically found in open woodland, scrub jungle, and other open areas with some grass. Grey-breasted Prinia builds its nest in tall grass and lays 3-4 eggs.
These 11-to-13-centimetre (4 to 5 in) long warblers have short rounded wings, a longish tail, strong legs and a short black bill. In breeding plumage, adults are grey-brown above, with no supercilium, a black eye stripe and orange eyering. They have a rufous wing panel. Grey-breasted Prinia’s underparts are white with a grey breast band. The sexes are identical.
EXIF info…
Camera:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:
EF400mm f/5.6L USM
Exposure Mode:
Manual exposure
Exposure Time:
1/400 sec.
Exposure Bias:
0.0
Aperture (F Stop):
f/5.6
ISO Used:
400
Flash Used:
Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode.
White Balance:
As Shot
Focal Length:
400.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2009:05:13 16:40:42
GPS Location in Google Map:
13° 4' 2.1" N, 74° 59' 44.3" E, 1269 m.a.s.l.
Copyright ©
Krishna Mohan
All rights Reserved. This Image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or trasmitted in any forms or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying & recording without my written permission. If you’d like to make usage request, just ask: drkrishi@drkrishi.com
Tags: birds, Canon, Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM, Canon EOS 5D mark II, Grey-breasted Prinia, Moodabidri, Prinia hodgsonii
Posted in Nature, Photography | Comments (1)
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