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A bight jewel in the seasonal Taiwan Cherry Blossom

The fork-tailed sunbird (Aethopyga christinae) is a very small bird, 6-9cm only. Now - February - is a great time to see them, in the seasonal flowerings of either the Taiwan Cherry Blossom - as pictured below, and one of the best places for this is Kadoorie Farm - or in the ubiquitous "Flame trees" that can be found around Hong Kong.

These birds have a frequent “zwinkzwink” call and a metallic trill. Residents of Hong Kong, they are common and wide spread. They breed between April and June, eventually forming a ball of grass into a nest up in the trees. They can also be found on the most common postage stamp of Hong Kong. Female is very pretty but quite drab in plumage comparison, here she is below.

    ©2018 by WildCreaturesHongKong.

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