Jan Rothe
Show your tongue
Sunbirds have multiple adaptations to their primary source of nutrition, which is the nectar of flowers. The most prominent one is the long curved bill, which allows them to get deep into the flowers to suck out the nectar. Another one is their tongue, which is tube-shaped with some microscopic brushes at the tip, that can be extended even beyond the end of their bill, which allows them to drink nectar even from flowers that are deeper than their bill length. You can see the tongue of a brown-throated sunbird in this picture, it is the translucent part that seems to extend from its upper mandible.
This is the same bird that I posted a picture of two days ago, in which it shook so rapidly that there was only a very colorful blur visible. In this picture you also get an idea how much the iridescence of the bird's feathers changes with even slight differences in angle of observation.
Heise Fotografie Picture of the Day 2025-04-30
Show your tongue
Sunbirds have multiple adaptations to their primary source of nutrition, which is the nectar of flowers. The most prominent one is the long curved bill, which allows them to get deep into the flowers to suck out the nectar. Another one is their tongue, which is tube-shaped with some microscopic brushes at the tip, that can be extended even beyond the end of their bill, which allows them to drink nectar even from flowers that are deeper than their bill length. You can see the tongue of a brown-throated sunbird in this picture, it is the translucent part that seems to extend from its upper mandible.
This is the same bird that I posted a picture of two days ago, in which it shook so rapidly that there was only a very colorful blur visible. In this picture you also get an idea how much the iridescence of the bird's feathers changes with even slight differences in angle of observation.
Heise Fotografie Picture of the Day 2025-04-30