Grey-breasted Spiderhunter - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by the late Dr Manjeet Singh
Selangor, Malaysia, December 2008

Arachnothera modesta

Description

17–18 cm (6½-7 in)

• Golden olive-green upperparts
• Brownish feathering on crown
• Blackis-brown remiges

Distribution

Endemic to Southeast Asia: found in Indochina, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo, Indonesia, Greater Sundas, Sumatra (but probably not in Sabah^[1])

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 4 subspecies^[2]:

• A. m. caena:

• Southern Burma and northern peninsular Thailand

• A. m. modesta:

• Southern Thailand (south of Isthmus of Kra), Malay Peninsula and western Borneo

• A. m. concolor:

• Sumatra and Mentawi Archipelago

• A. m. pars:

• Eastern Borneo

Habitat

Peat-swamp and secondary forests, dry coastal forests, coastal scrub and forest edges.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists mostly of spiders and other insects such as ants and crickets. They also eat nectar.

References

1. birdforum thread discussing taxonomy and range of this species
2. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
3. Avibase
4. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2015)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Grey-breasted Spiderhunter. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grey-breasted_Spiderhunter

External Links

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