Where the sunbirds sing and preen...

February and March are busy months around Navilu Kaadu. The days and nights start to get toasty right after Shivaratri habba. It is when raw, green pods on the profusion of tamarind trees scattered across fields, bunds and along winding country roads, ripen to sticky amber fruit with brittle shells.

The season is a great equaliser. Everyone from the village ironsmith, electrician and plumber, to the travelling plastic pot seller, grocer, zilla panchayat member, shepherds and cattle herders, even the local linemen, temporarily halt their full-time occupations and turn tamarind harvesting contractors. They scout the region for the best trees that hold the promise of profitable harvests and cut deals with the tree owners. Our 10 tamarind trees also draw ample attention.

Five summers ago, prospective harvesting contractors approached us. During a recce, we learned that our 10th tree at Navilu Kaadu’s southeastern boundary, with ripe tamarind pods aplenty, had house guests! A higgledy-piggledy little capsule patched together from spider silk, seed floss and fibrous plant material, with bits and bobs of dried twigs embellishing its exterior, a round hobbit entryway, and a tassel dangling beneath, hung from a slim branch. A pair of purple-rumped sunbirds was raising a family.

It was settled! The 10th tree with the most bountiful tamarind yield was off limits, and the nesting sunbirds needed to be left undisturbed. We decided not to lease any of our trees to the contractors, not that year and not in any of the succeeding years.

Purple-rumped sunbirds (Leptocoma zeylonica) are endemic to the Indian subcontinent. They are passerine birds (birds that perch) from the family Nectariniidae — a group that constitutes nectar-feeding birds with vibrant plumage. These sprightly little birds are the length of a five-year-old’s palm, at around four inches.

The species displays sexual dimorphism — the males look distinctly different from the females. Male purple-rumped sunbirds are iridescent jewels on wings. With ruby-red eyes, a shimmery teal crown and shoulder patch, a band around the neck and shoulders, the shade of velvety chocolate truffle, ashy russet wings, pineapple custard underbelly, and deep lilac throat and rump, these sunbird dudes are dressed for the disco!

The females keep it subtle with olive-brown wings, a white throat and a lime yellow underbelly. Pairs of sunbirds perch on the boughs of the drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera) by the cottage, drawing nectar from creamy drumstick blooms with their slender, arced bills. They sometimes peck at their reflection on the windowpanes of the cottage.

Navilu Kaadu hosts two species of sunbirds — the purple-rumped sunbird and the purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus). In the latter, the male transforms into a glittering cerulean, amethyst jewel worthy of a fairy queen’s tiara, during the breeding season.

Sunbirds have brush-tipped tongues to draw nectar from flowers. Their gravity-defying nectaring stances can put expert yoginis and yogis to shame. Sunbirds gather pollen dust on their crowns when drawing nectar and are prolific pollinators of flowering trees and plants.

These crafty little birds steal nectar, too, when the tantalising treat lies beyond their reach, deep within the flower. They poke a hole at the base of the bloom on the outside, dodging the flower’s pollination apparatus entirely, and resort to ‘nectar theft.’

The female sunbird is the primary nest-builder. The male perches nearby, preening his showy plumage and singing to her in lame encouragement. The female lays a clutch of two eggs. The parents incubate the eggs by turns, and the chicks hatch in around 15 days. The adult birds nourish the nestlings with a protein-rich diet of insects and spiders. The chicks fledge (grow feathers) in 16 days.

I once watched, bewitched, as a male purple-rumped sunbird, effulgent in dappled sunlight, enjoyed a refreshing dip in dew gathered in a fig leaf on our young edible fig plant. The bird drenched in the dew shook off the droplets and did so on repeat. The sight was balm to the soul. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to be that resplendent sunbird with a curved bill and rainbow plumage frolicking in clear, sparkling dew in a three-lobed fig leaf, and sip ambrosial wildflower nectar. Ever since, this has been my pipe dream. Truly.

Rooting For Nature is a monthly column on an off-kilter urban family’s trysts with nature on a natural farm. The author runs Green Goobé, a sustainable venture.

Reach her at [e-mail] or @ramyacoushik on Instagram.