Alternative Name: Gray-sided Flowerpecker
- Dicaeum celebicum
Identification
9 cm, 3.5 inches
Male
- Crown and upperparts black with purple iridescence
- Blackish face
- White throat
- Bright red patch on lower throat and breast
- Belly yellowish-white with black central line
- Black-green flanks
- Off white undertail coverts
- Dark iris
- Dark brown beak
- Black legs
Female
- Grey-brown upperparts
- Whitish-grey on throat and breast
- Grey green flanks
- Centre of belly and vent dull yellowish-white
Juvenile
- Similar to female but darker underparts
- Greener on upper breast
- Darker, greyer throat
- Lighter beak
Distribution
Sulawesi, some adjacent islands, Banggai and Sulu islands and Talaud islands, Indonesia.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 5 subspecies[1]:
- D. c. celebicum:
- Manadotua, Bangka, Sulawesi, Lembeh, Togian, Muna and Butung Islands
- D. c. talautense:
- Talaud Island, north Moluccas
- D. c. sanghirense:
- Sangihe and Siau islands, off northern Sulawesi
- D. c. sulaense:
- Banggai and Sula Islands. (Taliabu, Mangole and Sanana)
- D. c. kuehni:
- Tukangbesi Archipelago (off Sulawesi)
Habitat
Montane, lowland primary and tall secondary forest, forest edge, plantations, cultivation, gardens and secondary scrub; Up to 1200 m.
Behaviour
Diet
Fruits, nectar and pollen of mistletoes, wild cherries and Lantana camara, small spiders and insects. Forages mainly in the upper canopy. Gleans bare outer twigs. Forages alone and in pairs.
Breeding
Nest is pear-shaped, with or without a covered entrance on the side towards the top. woven out of down and fine grasses, adorned with twigs, spider silk and leaf debris. It is suspended 1.5–2 m above ground from an outer branch. 3 white eggs.
Vocalisation
Repetitive, weak and upslurred “seeei”, short, reiterated “tjjt”, short, dry, subdued “trri-tri”, and a high “tsip”; flight call is an abrupt “chip, chip, chip…”
References
- 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/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Grey-sided Flowerpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grey-sided_Flowerpecker
