When the sun is out in India, and if one is lucky to have access to a dense patch of native trees in flagrant, fragrant bloom, one is quite likely to see darting sunbirds. Sunbirds are to India what hummingbirds are to the Americas. Small birds with curved beaks that guzzle flower nectar. Dressed in an astounding colour palette that include hues as vivid as metallic green, lime yellow, deep hibiscus red and/or iridescent jaamun purple. Pollinators and insect feeders, sunbirds are a natural gardener's dream-come-true: a sign of a healthy, thriving, polyculture garden. Read on for a gorgeous photo-essay on the dazzling sunbirds of India.
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