As evidenced by this Streaked Spiderhunter, this little-known group of birds possess a special attraction all their own, especially when observed feeding in the tropical forests from India to southeast Asia (photographed in Malaysia by Malini Shanmaganathan). Similar to our fascination with hummingbirds, who can resist the attraction of sunbirds, like this dynamic Purple Sunbird photographed in India by Soumya Chakraborty.

National Geographic presents an amazing photographic introduction to the Sunbirds and Spiderhunters, a group of fascinating and colorful Old World species that all birders should review. Sunbirds have been described as the Old World equivalents of New World hummingbirds for their ecological importance to flowering plants, their food preferences, their colorful iridescent plumages, and small size. Spiderhunters are attractive but little-known birds that are closely related to sunbirds with more restricted ranges in southern Asia.

Spiderhunters don’t share the rainbow of colors that adorn male sunbirds; nonetheless, they are active and interesting birds that draw us to the verdant tropical forests of India and Southeast Asia. Sunbirds are widespread through Africa, the Middle East, southern Asia, and northeast Australia. The family of Sunbirds and Spiderhunters, Necturidae, numbers 145 different species with remarkable diversity, of which 13 species are divided into the spiderhunter sub-family.

We admire birds for their beauty and their ability to fly, but most importantly birds are admired for the role they play as a part of ecosystems. These stunning photographs create awareness about the variety and beauty of birds in our environment, and to view the National Geographic Top 25 Photographs of Sunbirds and Spiderhunters, see https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2019/08/16/top-25-wild-bird-photographs-of-the-week-sunbirds-and-spiderhunters/