- Dicaeum hirundinaceum
Identification
9 cm (3½ in)
- Bluish-black plumage
- Red chest
- Red undertail
- White belly with black centre stripe
Female
- Dark grey upperparts
- Light grey belly
- Slight red tinge under the tail
Distribution
Australia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Indonesia.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 4 subspecies[1]:
- D. h. kiense:
- Southern Wallacea (Watubela, Tayandu and Kai islands)
- D. h. fulgidum:
- Tanimbar Island (Yamdena, Larat and Lutu)
- D. h. ignicolle:
- Aru Islands
- D. h. hirundinaceum:
- Islands in Torres Strait and treed areas of mainland Australia
Habitat
Trees and shrubs; anywhere where mistletoe grows.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of mistletoe berries, fruit, nectar, pollen, spiders, moths, .
Breeding
Both adults build the nest* of crushed plants, palm threads and spider webs.
*Most on-line sources state that only the female builds the nest, but this picture shows a male collecting nesting material from a palm.
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/
- Wikipedia
- Wild Walks
- BF Member observations
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2018)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Mistletoebird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Mistletoebird