Nesting Of Purple-Rumped Sunbird Leptocoma Zeylonica In Southern Rajasthan, And Its Occurrence In The Thar Desert

The Purple-rumped Sunbird Leptocoma zeylonica has been recorded in Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, and Udaipur districts of Rajasthan, India (HSS pers. obsv.).

- Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj & Harkirat Singh Sangha

However, its breeding was recorded for the first time in 2007 in a forest nursery located in the middle of Pratapgarh (24.00ºN, 74.78ºE), southern Rajasthan. Its nest was discovered on a Manila tamarind Pithcelobium dulce tree in a forest nursery. The well-wooded 1.98 ha nursery provided suitable conditions for the sunbird to breed. The main tree species in the nursery included Teak Tectona grandis, Eucalyptus species, Cassia siamea, C. fistula, Zizyphus species, Acacia nilotica, Dalbergia sissoo, Holoptelea integrifolia, Azadirachta indica, Albizia lebbeck, Mango Mangifera indica, Ficus religiosa, Prosopis juliflora, Lawsonia species, Bouganvillea species, Dendrocalamus strictus, etc.