Sunbirds

Sunbirds (Nectariniidae), a family of Passerine birds related to the Honey-eaters (q.v.), having tenuity beaks and a protrusible and deeply-cleft tongue. In general appearance and habits they resemble the Humming-birds of America, with which, however, they have no real affinity. They are birds of brilliant plumage, glittering with metallic lustre. They are confined to the hotter regions of the Old World, being particularly abundant in Africa and southern Asia and extending to North Australia, but the species commonly have a limited range. Captain Shelley in his monograph on the Sunbirds (Lond. 1876-80) subdivides the family into three sub-families, (1) Neodrepaninae, (2) Nectariniinae, (3) Arachnotherinae. They are all of small size, although none are so small as the smallest humming-birds; they rival humming-birds in brilliancy of plumage, and like them they feed on the juices of flowers, which they suck by their long bill, occasionally hovering in the air before a flower when feeding, but generally hopping about or clinging to the smaller twigs and flowering branches. They have a feeble chirping note. They feed partly on the nectar of flowers, but also on small cicadellas, flies, and spiders. Cinnyris is a synonym of Nectarinia.