I became a witness to an uncomfortable truce,
Between a pair of male purple sunbirds who took thirst as an excuse,
To put aside their competition for a while,
To pick another time to remain hostile,
Thirst is making them stand together,
Summer is harsh and there is very less availability of water,
For their diet they prefer sweet nectar,
Flying around a patch of Oleander,
With slender downward curved beaks, vibrant colours and little bit of a hovering flight feature,
Many call them ‘hummingbirds’ which is a misnomer,
These small agile birds set an example for convergent evolution,
Where different species having different ancestors evolved to have the same characteristics, which is creating some of this confusion,
These birds also hunt insects,
They are from the family of Nectariniidae, which consists of sunbirds and spiderhunters,
They keep flying from one flower to another,
Also doing their duty as a pollinator,
By feeding on the insects they help the plants,
They generally use spider webs to build their nests,
During mating season the male sunbirds are visible both in breeding and eclipse plumage,
Their life cycle too is affected by climate change,
They fall victim to pollution caused by harmful herbicides and pesticides,
Be mindful of using chemicals near the place where a sunbird resides,
By opting for organic methods for horticulture that are safe for other creatures and humans,
Clearly everyone can have long term health benefits,
For those who look forward to having a sustainable future,
It is better that people starting investing in benevolent nature,
Hope mankind will make better life-saving choices,
Like these purple sunbirds who chose water and peace to save their lives…
© Nishand Venugopal. All rights reserved
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