Olive-backed Sunbird on Lantana Camara

Olive-backed Sunbirds are frequently seen on my Lantana camara shrubs. They are ingenious in the way they collect nectar from the flowers. Being small-bodied, light and possessing a long, narrow, curved beak helps.

This sunbird alights on a slender stalk ...


and insert its curved beak into a tiny flower.


It then flips up to approach a flower facing upwards.


See how its fine beak can be inserted into the teeny weeny florets.



These globular heads are left behind when all the flowers drop.


 

Lantana flowers non-stop and add dashes of colour to the garden where ever the seeds disperse and take root.



This variety has touches of pink.

In this variety of orange-yellow florets, the buds first appear pink.