White-throated flowerpecker

Dicaeum vincens

Photo by John Thompson (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
white-throated flowerpecker (en); pica-flores-do-Ceilão (pt); dicée de Ceylan (fr); picaflores cingalés (es); Sri Lanka-blomsterpikker (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Dicaeidae

Range:
This species is endemic to Sri Lanka, where it is confined to the wet zone in the south-western part of the island.

Size:
These birds are 10 cm long and weigh 8-10 g.

Habitat:
The white-throated flowerpecker is found in rainforests from sea level up to an altitude of 2.300 m, being more abundant in lowland forests up to an altitude of 900 m. They can also wander of to secondary habitats bordering rainforests.

Diet:
They feed mostly on nectar, but also eat berries, spiders and insects.

Breeding:
White-throated flowerpeckers nest in a purse-like nest suspended from a tree, where the female lays 2 eggs. There is no information regarding the incubation and fledgling periods.

Conservation:
IUCN status - NT (Near-Threatened)
This species has a relatively large breeding range and is described as common at lower altitudes. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction, through the extensive clearance and degradation of forests, particularly in the wet zone, by logging, fuel wood collection, conversion to agriculture and tree plantations, gem mining, settlement and fire. Some protected forests continue to be degraded and suffer further fragmentation.

Thick-billed flowerpecker

Dicaeum agile

Photo by Umang Dutt (Flickr)

Common name:
thick-billed flowerpecker (en); pica-flores-de-bico-grosso (pt); dicée à bec épais (fr); picaflores picogrueso (es); dickschnabel-mistelfresser (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Dicaeidae

Range:
This species is found in southern Asia, in several disjunct populations. The subspecies D. a. agile is found across most of India, in northern Pakistan and Nepal. The subspecies D. a. modestum is found from eastern Bangladesh and Myanmar to Vietnam and southern Thailand and there are another 11 isolated subspecies spread across Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia and East Timor.

Size:
These birds are 10-12 cm long and weigh around 9 g.

Habitat:
The thick-billed flowerpecker is mostly found in moist tropical and sub-tropical forests and scrublands, but also in some dry forests and plantations.

Diet:
They mainly feed on berries, fruits and nectar, but will also take some insects and spiders.

Breeding:
Thick-billed flowerpeckers breed in December-June. The nest is a purse-like bag, made of plant fibres, spider webs and plant down, placed hanging from a thin horizontal branch of a tree, 3-15 m above the ground. The nest is often placed near ant nests, possibly for protection. The female lays 2-4 rosy-white or pink eggs with brownish spots, which are incubated for around 13 days. The chicks fledge about 18 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status -  LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is reported to be rare to not uncommon. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Cebu flowerpecker

Dicaeum quadricolor

Photo by Tomasz Cofta (Y101FM)

Common name:
Cebu flowerpecker (en); pica-flores-de-Cebu (pt); dicée quadricolore (fr); picaflores de Cebú (es); vierfarben-mistelfresser (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Dicaeidae


Range:
This species is endemic to the island of Cebu in the Philippines.


Size:
These birds are 11-12 cm long.


Habitat:
They are mostly found on the tallest remaining patches of native rainforest, being strongly associated to karst limestone soils. They may use areas of disturbed or selectively logged forest, but only when these occur next to a larger patch of native vegetation.


Diet:
Cebu flowerpeckers are frugivorous. They forage in the forest canopy, where they mostly eat the berries and fruits of Ficus and mistletoe-like plants such as Loranthus.


Breeding:
These birds are suspected to breed in February-August, but nothing else is known about their reproductive biology.


Conservation:
IUCN status - CR (Critically Endangered)
This species has an extremely small and fragmented breeding range and the global population is estimated at just 85-105 individuals. The Cebu flowerpecker was feared to have become extinct during the 20th century, because all the island's forest were thought to have been cleared. However, it was rediscovered in 1992. The population is now believed to be stable, or declining very slowly, as the remaining patches of forests are located in areas where they are not likely to be cleared. Still, the risk of habitat destruction due to illegal settlement, road construction, shifting cultivation, illicit logging, charcoal making, firewood collection and habitat clearance for mining; the interspecific competition with red-striped flowerpecker Dicaeum australe; and the inevitable risk of stochastic events that may eliminate such a small population make this one of the most endangered bird species in the World.