When I was young, I learnt that flowers are often pollinated by birds and insects when birds and insects reach into the base of the flowers from the top to take nectar from the flowers. Pollen from one flower is transferred to another when they feed on the nectar in the flower.
I have often wondered how birds can take nectar deep inside a long tubular flower despite having very long beaks. With good photographic equipment, I can now observe and record such events and share such observations with others.
We can often see sunbirds and spider hunters with their long beaks deep in flowers and staying there for perhaps up to a minute. How can they suck up the nectar when their beaks are not airtight? If you try to drink through a perforated straw, you will know it would be impossible.
I later learnt that sunbirds have tubular tongues that they use like a straw to suck up the nectar. The tip of their tongues could also be branched to help them better sweep and gather the nectar.
With good photographic equipment, I can observe and capture sunbirds with their tongues momentarily extended beyond their beaks. I learned that all birds have tongues. Birds with beaks and tongues of different shapes, including tubular tongues, use these tongues and beaks for different feeding requirements – feeding on different food and in different ways.
Although sunbirds usually take nectar by inserting their long beaks from the open-top of the flowers, many sunbirds have learnt that it is quicker to pierce the bottom of the flowers to get directly to the nectar. Sunbirds can pierce through the flower base because they have sharp strong beaks. However, whether they take nectar this way depends also on the type of flowers.
In the Singapore Botanical Gardens, many sunbirds are attracted by Heliconia and Costus flowers. These flowers are flashy, and when the base of the flowers are pierced by the sunbirds, the cavities are soon filled with liquid, possibly with nectar, which are sucked up by the birds. The birds may reuse the cavities or pierce a new one when no nectar is available. This does not appear to affect the plant or the garden landscape as the propagation of heliconia and Costus plants are separated, and the rhizomes are planted, which grow abundantly.
In the two pictures above, a male Olive-backed sunbird is perched next to a heliconia flower and a Costus ginger flower. They may take the nectar from the top or the base of the flowers.
The picture on the left above shows a sunbird piercing one more hole through the base of a flower, pierced many times around the base. It is very likely that this flower will not survive the many piercings and will dry up and die.
The picture on the right shows a juvenile Magpie Robin temporarily perched on the Costus flower. The Magpie Robin does not have a long enough beak or a tubular tongue to feed on nectar. They feed mostly on worms, insects, and small lizards. The Magpie Robin is standing on a Costus inflorescence, and many of the flowers in the lower part of the inflorescence have died because of too many piercings.
Birds have adapted to many different environments. This has taken many millions of years. Over this period, some of these adapted characteristics are carried in their genes and passed on from generation to generation, enabling them to survive better than other animals. Scientists have shown that birds are related to dinosaurs that once roamed the earth. Children in school learn that birds are close relatives of dinosaurs, and one of my grandsons told me that birds are living dinosaurs.
From a young age, we learn, unlearn, and relearn many things. Some of the things we learn are true, and some are false. Even though many of us are gullible, it does us not much harm, provided we keep our minds open and are prepared to relearn when we discover we have been deceived. This includes self-deception, which I think is part of growing up and learning.
When I started bird watching in the Covid years, many friends advised me how to enjoy the experience. Some friends who are not bird watchers advised me always to carry a bottle of water and not to forget to drink regularly. My photography masters taught me how to shoot better shots and what equipment to buy. One of the best pieces of advice I received was to capture at least one eye when I shoot birds. It would be better if I could capture a glint in the eye. It makes the photograph appear livelier.
All this advice and my practical experience shooting birds for this article reminded me of a poem I learnt when I was young. The poem “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” was later used as a song’s lyrics and is available on YouTube. For many years, I sang this song without knowing its meaning. I often got the words wrong, and some people who heard me singing sometimes told me that my tune was also wrong. I think that despite all the mistakes, I could have learnt something. Watching the sunbirds take nectar makes me imagine they are drinking wine from flowers.
Perhaps if we were not sometimes gullible, we would not have been able to learn many things. We cannot question everything as we try to learn. Neither should we distrust everyone who tries to advise and teach us, including our teachers. Perhaps when we realise that we have been gullible, it does not mean that we are stupid, as the word “stupid” has offensive connotations.
Appendix
Drink to me only with thine eyes (A poem written for a young lady Celia and used in a song.)
Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine.
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine.
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.
I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honouring thee
As giving it a hope, that there
It could not withered be.
But thou thereon didst only breathe,
And sent’st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,
Not of itself, but thee.
Lim Yong Wah
Lim Yong Wah is an active retiree with keen interest in wildlife photography, music, and philosophy.
