Brown-Throated Sunbird

Canon EOS 7D, EF 500mm f/4L IS USM, Shutter Priority, f/5.6 (1/1250 sec), ISO 800, 0 EV, Tripod, JPG from RAW, Cropped About 50%, Non-Captive Subject

The current mini-series I'm presenting is on birds I've shot at my local open zoo; the first image I posted of the Black-Crested Bulbul was actually taken in the avery, I then posted another image of a Black-Crested Bulbul taken at a completely difference location, for the simple reason a couple of our members wanted to see this species in profile.

Back on track now ;^) the next three images I will be showing you were also taken at the zoo … BUT, they are all completely wild birds; i.e. while they may feed and nest within the grounds they are not confined to the avery.

The subject you see here is a male Brown-Throated Sunbird. I posted a male Olive-Backed Sunbird a little while ago, which is the species that really got me hooked on bird photography in the first place. As you can probably appreciate, Sunbirds have a very special place in my heart :^)

Although I could well be wrong, I like to think Sunbirds are Asia and Africa's evolutionary break from the Hummingbirds of North and South America, in much the same way as there are Jaguars and Leopards; I'm no Alfred Russell Wallace or Charles Darwin ;^p but I reckon there's any number of species that followed alternative evolutionary paths when land masses split apart to form the continents we know today.

Anyhow, enough of my guesswork on the nature of creation ;^p

Critique, comments, and corrections on anything I write, are always welcome ;^)