HANDSOME SUNBIRD of Mindoro

[Ramon Quisumbing]

HANDSOME SUNBIRD (Aethopyga bella)
Split from the Lovely Sunbird (Aethopyga shelleyi).
Endemic. This is the minuta subspecies found in Mindoro and central/southern Luzon.

On 3/9/13, I took Ely Teehankee on the Ponderosa forest trail in the mountain behind Puerto Galera, Mindoro, to capture Mindoro endemics such as the Scarlet-Collared Flowerpecker which are usually high up tall trees.

We had our 1.4x extenders on, when this male Handsome Sunbird surprised us by landing just 5 meters above us. We had to back away because it was less than our minimum focusing distance.

Canon 1DX camera, 800 mm lens, 1.4x extender, 1120 mm, tripod.


F/8, ISO-800, 1/640 second.


F/8, ISO-800, 1/1600 second. Note: I had a distracting twig cloned out.

[Edu Lorenzo Jr]

handsome indeed sir.

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Thanks, Edu.

[Ely Teehankee]

For two weeks in a row, I did not get a good shot of any bird so it is nice to see that you got a good one, compliments of this Handsome Sunbird. This is the first time that I saw it and my gear was not set up properly making me missed this beautiful bird. Just the same thank you for the opportunity of birding with you. Well done Ramon & Mabuhay. My two peso fare to Coron and back was worth it. All of the birds were the usual birds and there were some that I missed but there are also some that I photographed this time that are better than the previous ones. As far as I know the combination of the 1DX and 800mm produces very good pictures compared to what I have taken in the past.

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Thanks, Ely. I look forward to your Coron posting.