Fig 1 : Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
Fig 2 : Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
Fig 3 : Mistletoe Flowerpecker
Fig 4 : Black-fronted Flowerpecker
Fig 5 : Black-fronted Flowerpecker
Fig 6 : Fire-breasted Flowerpecker
Fig 7 : Orange-bellied Flowerpecker - male
Fig 8 : Orange-bellied Flowerpecker - immature female
Fig 9 : Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker
Fig 10 : Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker
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Flowerpeckers comprise the family Dicaeidae, a group
of diminutive birds, weighing from 5 to 12 grams, with squat bodies and
short, slightly decurved bills. Males of some species exhibit attractive
colours and patterning but females are generally dull.
Their diet comprises berries, nectar and sometimes small insects. Some
species show a preference for the berries of mistletoe, a parasitic plant :
the digestive tract of flowerpeckers can tolerate toxins from these plants.
The mistletoe seeds are either discarded prior to the berry being eaten, or
pass through the gut undigested. They are coated with a sticky substance
which easily adheres to the new host tree. At times, flowerpeckers
must rub their posterior against a branch to remove seeds which stubbornly
cling to the anus.
Like their near-relatives the sunbirds,
flowerpeckers build small, purse-like nests of dried vegetation
suspended in the shade of small trees.
Their flight is swift and direct, and
their call is generally some variant of a simply repeated 'chip, chip' or
'tzit tzit' etc.
Around 36 species of flowerpecker occur in Southeast Asia, and the group
extends westward into South Asia and southward into Australia. There are
numerous endemic species in the Philippine Islands.
Fig 1 :
Scarlet-backed
Flowerpecker
Dicaeum cruentatum
Location : Portsdown, Singapore
Habitat : Wooded, residential area.
Notes : Male consuming ripe berries of the mistletoe Macrosolen
cochinchinensis.
Fig 2 :
Scarlet-backed
Flowerpecker
Dicaeum cruentatum
Location : Luang Prabang, Laos
Habitat : Wooded, riverine.
Fig 3 :
Mistletoe
Flowerpecker
Dicaeum hirundinaceum
Location : Northern Territory, Australia
Habitat : Dry, scrub forest
Figs 4 and 5 :
Black-fronted
Flowerpecker
Dicaeum igniferum
Location : Flores, Indonesia
Habitat : Coastal secondary scrub forest
Fig 6 :
Fire-breasted Flowerpecker (Buff-bellied Flowerpecker)
Dicaeum ignipectus
Location : Fraser's Hill, Peninsular Malaysia
Habitat : Gardens, near lower montane primary rainforest
Fig 7 :
Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (male)
Dicaeum trigonostigma
Location : Sungai Bantang, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia
Habitat : Lowland secondary forest
Notes : Consuming
seeds of
Koster's Curse Clidemia hirta.
Fig 8 :
Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (immature
female)
Dicaeum trigonostigma
Location : Johor,
Peninsular Malaysia
Habitat : Lowland primary forest edge
Notes :
Plucking seeds and parts of flowers from a growth of
Koster's Curse Clidemia hirta.
Fig 9 :
Yellow-breasted
Flowerpecker
Prionochilus maculatus
Location : Sungai Bantang, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia
Habitat : Lowland primary forest, next to stream
Fig 10 :
Crimson-breasted
Flowerpecker
Prionochilus percussus
Location : Johor, Peninsular Malaysia
Habitat : Lowland primary forest edge
Notes :
Consuming a seed and flower parts of
Koster's Curse Clidemia hirta, an invasive shrub.
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