Loten's Sunbird

Loten's sunbird, also called the long-billed sunbird, is endemic to peninsular India and Sri Lanka and is named after Joan Gideon Loten, a Dutch governor of Ceylon. It is small, 12 to 13 cm long, and very like the purple sunbird but has a longer bill, browner wings and a maroon breast band. The adult male is mainly glossy purple with a grey-brown belly, and the female is yellow-grey above and yellowish below (Wikipedia, general species account).

It hovers at flowers for nectar, is also insectivorous and builds hanging nests. Bill length varies between populations, longest in eastern peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Nationally Least Concern (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012, listed as Nectarinia lotenia).