Thick-billed Flowerpecker
Encyclopedia
The Thick-billed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum agile) is a tiny bird
in the flowerpecker
group. They feed predominantly on fruits and are active birds that are mainly seen in the tops of trees in forests. It is a resident bird with a wide distribution across tropical southern Asia
from India
east to Indonesia
and Timor
with several populations recognized as subspecies some of which are sometimes treated as full species.
Unlike the Pale-billed Flowerpecker
, it does not swallow the berries of Loranthus
(some species now in genus Dendrophthoe
) and instead wipes the seeds on a branch and feeds on the epicarp. This makes it disperse the parasitic mistletoe locally unlike the other species. In Sri Lanka, they forage at a greater height in the canopy than the Pale-billed Flowerpecker.
Foraging birds produce a spick call frequently and the tail is jerked from side to side when perched. When displaying the male twitters and flutters over the female. The song is rambling and is mixed with notes that resemble that of the Ashy Prinia
. The feathers of the crown are erected in display and the white bases of the feathers become visible as a crown stripe. The nest has been described as appearing camouflaged like a dry leaf. It is a pendant purse like structure made of cobwebs or fine plant fibres and is located from 3 to 15 metres high suspended from a thin horizontal branch. Said to frequently nest among the nests of Oecophylla smaragdina
ants. The breeding season in southern India is December to March. The usual clutch is about 3 eggs but can vary from 2 to 4.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the flowerpecker
Flowerpecker
The flowerpeckers are a family, Dicaeidae , of passerine birds. The family comprises two genera, Prionochilus and Dicaeum, with 44 species in total. The family has sometimes been included in an enlarged sunbird family Nectariniidae. The berrypeckers of the family Melanocharitidae and the painted...
group. They feed predominantly on fruits and are active birds that are mainly seen in the tops of trees in forests. It is a resident bird with a wide distribution across tropical southern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
east to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
with several populations recognized as subspecies some of which are sometimes treated as full species.
Description
This species flowerpecker is about 10 cm long and has a dark stout beak and short tail. dull greyish with diffuse streaking on the light buffy underparts and darker grey brown above. The rump is slightly more olive in the nominate race. The bill is dark, somewhat stout and heavy and the iris is reddish. The sexes are not distinguishable in the field and the juvenile has a paler base to the mandible and less streaks on the underside. There are whitish spots at the tip of the tail feathers. The nominate race is found on the plains of the mainland of the Indian Subcontinent. The Sri Lankan population, zeylonense (=zeylonicum, zeylonica), is smaller and darker above. and Subspecies modestum (including pallescens) is found in northeastern India and extends into Burma. Several island forms have been described but some of them are only tentatively kept within this species. These include atjehense of Sumatra, finschi of western Java, tinctum of Sumba, Flores and Alor, obsoletum from Timor, striatissimum, aeruginosum and affine from the Philippines. Several of these such as aeruginosum are considered as full species as they are reproductively isolated and distinct in morphology.Behaviour and ecology
Like other flowerpeckers they feed mainly on berries, nectar but sometimes take insects. Many of the subspecies are found in dense lowland forests with the exception of the nominate race which is found mainly in cultivated areas or open forest.Unlike the Pale-billed Flowerpecker
Pale-billed Flowerpecker
Tickell's Flowerpecker or Pale-billed Flowerpecker is a tiny bird that feeds on nectar and berries, found in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The bird is common especially in urban gardens with berry bearing trees...
, it does not swallow the berries of Loranthus
Loranthus
Loranthus is a genus of mostly parasitic plants that grow on the branches of woody trees. It belongs to the family Loranthaceae, the showy mistletoe family...
(some species now in genus Dendrophthoe
Dendrophthoe
Dendrophthoe is a genus of hemiparasitic shrubs found in Asia and Australia known as mistletoes. The genus was described by German naturalist Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius in 1830....
) and instead wipes the seeds on a branch and feeds on the epicarp. This makes it disperse the parasitic mistletoe locally unlike the other species. In Sri Lanka, they forage at a greater height in the canopy than the Pale-billed Flowerpecker.
Foraging birds produce a spick call frequently and the tail is jerked from side to side when perched. When displaying the male twitters and flutters over the female. The song is rambling and is mixed with notes that resemble that of the Ashy Prinia
Ashy Prinia
The Ashy Prinia or Ashy Wren-Warbler , is a small warbler. This prinia is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent, western Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is a common bird in urban gardens and farmland in many parts of India and its small size, distinctive colours and upright tail make it easy to...
. The feathers of the crown are erected in display and the white bases of the feathers become visible as a crown stripe. The nest has been described as appearing camouflaged like a dry leaf. It is a pendant purse like structure made of cobwebs or fine plant fibres and is located from 3 to 15 metres high suspended from a thin horizontal branch. Said to frequently nest among the nests of Oecophylla smaragdina
Oecophylla smaragdina
Oecophylla smaragdina is a species of arboreal ant found in Asia and Australia. They make nests in trees made of leaves stitched together using the silk produced by their larvae.Weaver ants may be red or green...
ants. The breeding season in southern India is December to March. The usual clutch is about 3 eggs but can vary from 2 to 4.
