25 June 2019

Male Brown-throated Sunbird “robbing nectar” – “merompak madu”

From my observation in my backyard, and browsing the internet, the one that probes at the receptacle /calyx of the flowers is always a MALE.
(If anybody found the female species doing this, please show me the link)

Male Brown-throated Sunbird forages at Bunga Raya – Hibiscus flower.    (above)
Probing and punctuating the base of the hibiscus flower   “robbing nectar” – “merompak madu”
["Nectar robbers" usually feed from holes bitten in flowers, rather than by entering through the flowers' natural openings." -from Wikipedia]
The female sucks nectar at the center, inside the petals /base of the staminal tube.

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3 comments:

Phil Slade said...

It is very interesting that the male and female have different feeding strategies for the same plant. I wonder why?

Alon Friedman said...

Hello
I found that the female was doing the same nectar robbingnd as the male.
I have uploaded a video for you
https://youtu.be/LW3e0V4haPI
we have only Orange-tufted sunbirds
soon I will upload a special "nectar robbing sunbirds" at my youtube channel: alonteach
Alon Friedman
Kiryat-Yam, ISRAEL

Jae said...

Wow, I never would have noticed until reading this post. Check out my pictures of male & female crimson sunbirds doing exactly what you pointed out here. https://imgur.com/a/xGVtu4f