- Prionochilus olivaceus
Identification
9.1 cm.
- Golden-olive crown and upperparts
- Blackish-brown tail and primaries, edged olive
- Grey to greyish-white lores
- Pale olive-grey side of face, throat and breast
- White centre of chin to belly and undertail-coverts
- Olive lower flanks with white streaking
- Red eye
- parsonsi has black lores and sides of throat and breast
- samarensis has browner breast side, tending to form streak at posterior end
Females are paler than males and have greyer sides of throat and breast.
Juveniles have an olive-tinged grey chest, a greyish loral spot and yellow on belly.
Distribution
Endemic to the Philippines.
Uncommon and poorly known.
Taxonomy
Three subspecies recognized:
- P. o. parsoni in the northern Philippines (northern Luzon, Catanduanes)
- P. o. samarensis in the central Philippines (southern Luzon, Samar, Leyte and possibly Bohol)
- P. o. olivaceus in the southern Philippines (Basilan, Dinagat and Mindanao)
Habitat
Found in forest, secondary growth and at forest edge. Often around flowering and fruiting trees.
Occurs from sea-level up to 1000 m.
Behaviour
Diet
No details but feeds probably on fruit, pollen and nectar of mistletoes.
Forages mainly in understorey. Joins also mixed-species flocks.
Breeding
Breeding recorded in August. No other information.
Movements
No movements known.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Olive-backed Flowerpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 June 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Olive-backed_Flowerpecker
