Sunbirds

Olive-backed Sunbird (in Malay, Kelicap Bukit)

This photo of a male olive-backed sunbird at Taman Rimba Riang owes much to good luck.  Firstly, I was fortunate to find a sunbird unafraid of people.  One piece of very good advice I got when I started to take photos of birds was to initially go to parks rather than forest reserves.  I was told that forest dwelling birds are more wary; in a park we humans are just background noise to be ignored.

The second way I was lucky was that I remembered to remove the lens cap and turn the camera on as soon as I got out of the car. This sunbird was just inside the park gate; if I had fumbled with my camera it is likely I would have been like the fisherman who bemoans the one that got away.  

A female olive-backed sunbird. This photo was also taken at a park- Taman Tasik Menjalara.   

Brown-throated Sunbird (in Malay, Kelicap Mayang Kelapa)

This male brown-throated sunbird is perched on an exotic shrub .... It is one of the few birds that utilises this shrub, many of the other birds seem to avoid it. I imagine the reason to be that fewer insects can survive on an exotic.  This is good for the gardener, but bad for the birdwatcher (and much worse for the insect and the bird which have less good habitat in which to thrive).

Two males in a territorial dispute. One bird was chasing the other. I was ready when both stopped to rest.

A female gleaning at the fruit of the Simpoh Air shrub. As is typically the case for birds, the female is more drab than the male.