This is a tiny species, just 8cm long, around 3 1/2 inches. It is the Indian sub-continent's smallest bird species. They are quite a common bird in Sri Lanka but I hadn't seen them before my recent trip when I encountered them on three occasions this time.  It seems that they are related to the Sunbirds but feed in a totally different way. Each time I saw them they were around, or attracted to the small wild flowering shrub called Lantana, (see above).  This little plant is common in hot climates and in other parts of the world, where it is considered to be an invasive species and cleared. Judging by the amount of insect and bird life attracted to the shrub, it would seem wrong to eradicate it but understandable.   For the same reason and In the same way that Ragwort is cleared in the UK, Lantana is also poisonous to livestock and here is the problem of course.  Lantana is spread and propagated by the Flowerpeckers who feed on the pulp of the seed, discarding the pip to germinate nearby and there  is an important relationship between the bird and the plant.  You can see in the picture that the Flowerpecker is in the process of dealing with a seed.

I found this species to be a noisy little bird that was constantly calling and the call was very much like a sunbird.  You can see that the bird is quite nondescript and aptly named. The beak is large for the size of the bird and downcurved, strong and powerful. This species is also called Tickell's Flowerpecker.