New Zealand during the early Miocene (about 19 to 16 million years ago): a tiny Kui’s Wren is sitting on a flowering Fuchsia twig.

The Kui’s Wren is the oldest known member of the Acanthisittidae, a bird family that is only known from New Zealand. It is said to have been similar in size to the Riflemean (Acanthisitta chloris (Sparrmann)), on of only two surviving members of this family, it was indeed a preatty tiny bird.

The flowers belong to Fuchsia antiqua D. E. Lee, Conran, Bannister, U. Kaulfuss & Mildenh., itself being the oldest known Fuchsia species. I wanted to represent it as a tree-like species, a bit like the recent Tree Fuchsia (Fuchsia excorticata (J. R. Forst. & G. Forst.) L. f.).

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References:

[1] Trevor H. Worthy; Suzanne J. Hand; Jacqueline M. T. Nguyen; Alan J. D. Tennyson; Jennifer P. Worthy; R. Paul Scofield; Walter E. Boles; Michael Archer: Biogeographical and Phylogenetic Implications of an Early Miocene Wren (Aves: Passeriformes: Acanthisittidae) from New Zealand. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(2): 479-498. 2010 
[2] Daphne E. Lee; John G. Conran; Jennifer M. Bannister; Uwe Kaulfuss; Dallas C. Mildenhall: A fossil Fuchsia (Onagraceae) flower and an anther mass with in situ pollen from the early Miocene of New Zealand. American Journal of Botany 100(10): 2052-2065. 2013

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edited: 08.01.2017