Thick-billed Flowerpecker

Nominate subspecies
Photo by aloktewari
Karad City, Dist. Satara, Maharashtra, India, December 2010

Dicaeum agile

Inlcudes: Striped Flowerpecker

Identification

9–10·4 cm (3½-4 in)

• Olive-green upperparts
• Greyish white underparts, streaked on the breast
• Short tail
• Short thick curved bill
• Tubular tongue
  

The sexes are alike.

Distribution

Luzon subspecies - striatissimum, sometimes split as Striped Flowerpecker
Photo by Romy Ocon
Mt. Makiling, Laguna Province, Luzon, Philippines, January 2007

Southern Asia from India east to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore (where it is a rare non-breeding visitor) to Indonesia and Timor.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Subspecies modestum
Photo by robby thai
Si Phang Na NP, Thailand, April 2016

There are 11 subspecies^[1]:

• D. a. agile: North-eastern Pakistan and peninsula India
• D. a. zeylonicum: Sri Lanka
• D. a. modestum: Southern peninsula Thailand, Malay Peninsula and Borneo
• D. a. pallescens: Bangladesh to Burma, northern Thailand and north Vietnam
• D. a. atjehense: Northern Sumatra (Aceh, Utara and Selatan)
• D. a. finschi: Western Java
• D. a. tinctum: Lesser Sundas (Sumba, Flores and Alor)
• D. a. obsoletum: Timor (eastern Lesser Sundas)
• D. a. striatissimum: Northern Philippines (Lubang, Luzon, Romblon, Sibuyan, Catanduanes)
• D. a. aeruginosum: Central and southern Philippines (Cebu, Negros, Mindoro and Mindanao)
• D. a. affine: South-western Philippines (Palawan)

The last three subspecies from the Philippines are sometimes split as Striped Flowerpecker, Dicaeum aeruginosum.

Habitat

A variety of woods and forests, both broadleaved evergreen. Found in the canopy and forest edges, gardens with fruit trees, particularly figs.

Behaviour

They jerk their tails from side to side.

Breeding

They build a purse-like nest suspended from a tree. The clutch consists of 2-4 eggs.

Diet

Their diet consists mostly of fruit, particularly figs and lantana. They also eat flowers, nectar and insects, including spiders.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved March 2015)
3. BF Member observations
4. AvianWeb

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Thick-billed Flowerpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Thick-billed_Flowerpecker

External Links

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