Big-billed mistletoe

Big-billed mistletoe
Big-billed mistletoe ( Dicaeum agile )
Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes) Subordination : Songbirds (passeri) Superfamily : Passeroidea Family : Mistletoe eater (Dicaeidae) Genre : Dicaeum Type : Big-billed mistletoe
Scientific name
Dicaeum agile
( Tickell , 1833)

The thick-billed mistletoe ( Dicaeum agile , syn. Piprisoma squalidum ) is a species of bird from the mistletoe- eater family (Dicaeidae). The species occurs in areas of South Asia , Indonesia , the Indochinese Peninsula and the Philippines . The distribution area includes dry to moist deciduous forest or evergreen, tree-lined habitats , also plantations , coconut groves or kitchen gardens up to 1500 m in summer, under 800 m all year round.

features

The bird is 9–10 cm tall, weighs between 7 and 11 g with relatively simple plumage. The upper side is ashen, olive-brown, the lower side gray to yellow-brown-white, discreetly striped. The tail has a fuzzy white tail tip. The strong bluish finch's bill of varying thickness is characteristic to differentiate it from the salmon-beak mistletoe-eater ( Dicaeum erythrorhynchos ). A diffuse streak of beard can be defined on the head . The sexes do not differ. A striking feature is the habit of spreading the short tail and waving it back and forth while sitting.

Geographic variation

Distribution of the subspecies of Dicaeum agile and related species, some of which are also listed as subspecies ( Dicaeum everetti sordidum, Dicaeum aeruginosum affine, Dicaeum everetti bungurense, Dicaeum everetti everetti, Dicaeum aeruginosum aeruginosum ), according to Rasmussen and Anderton 2005 and F. Salomonsen 1960

The following subspecies are recognized:

• There. agile ( Tickell , 1833), nominate form - English Thick-billed Flowerpecker - northeast Pakistan east to Bihar and south the entire Indian peninsula
• There. zeylonicum ( Whistler , 1944) - Sri Lanka
• There. pallescens ( Riley , 1935) - northeast India , east Bangladesh and Myanmar , Thailand, Laos , Cambodia, and Vietnam (excluding Tonkin ); probably also southern China
• There. modestum ( AO Hume , 1875) - Malay Peninsula and in places on Borneo
• There. atjehense Delacour , 1946 - North and South Sumatra
• There. finschi M. Bartels, Sr , 1914 - Java
• There. tinctum ( Mayr , 1944) - Lesser Sunda Islands ( Sumbawa , Flores to Alor Archipelago )
• There. obsoletum ( S. Müller , 1843) - English Modest Flowerpecker - Timor , Wetar

HBW also has other subspecies that are listed by the IOC as a separate species of striped breast mistletoe ( Dicaeum aeruginosum ) with subspecies:

• There. striatissimum Parkes , 1962 - Luzon , Lubang Islands , Romblon Islands , Sibuyan and Catanduanes in the northern Philippines
• There. affine ( JT Zimmer , 1918) - Palawan (western Philippines)
• There. aeruginosum ( Bourns & Worcester , 1894) - English Striped Flowerpecker - Mindoro , Negros , Cebu and Mindanao (southern Philippines)

Call of the thick-billed mistletoe

voice

The male's call is described as loud, sharp and metallic “chik-chik-chik-chik”, rattling “tititiitili”.

Way of life

The diet consists mainly of ripe fruits of dendrophthea and mistletoe . The species can be found individually on mistletoe-laden trees in open, tree-lined habitats . The behavior is similar to that of the salmon-beak mistletoe, but the fruits are not swallowed whole: the berry is broken up in the beak, the seeds are stripped off a neighboring branch. As a result, the plant spreads on the same tree.

The breeding season is between December and August in India and between April and May in Sri Lanka.

Hazardous situation

The stock is not considered to be at risk ( least concern ).

Web links

Commons : Dick-beaked mistletoe  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Videos, photos and sound recordings on Dicaeum agile in the Internet Bird Collection

• Oiseaux.net

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dick-beak mistletoe , in Avibase - The World Bird Database
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} R. Cheke & C. Mann: Thick-billed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum agile) . In: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, DA Christie & E. de Juana, E. (Eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive . Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2019 ( hbw.com [accessed September 15, 2019]).
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} S. Ali: The Book of Indian Birds. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford university Press, 13th ed. 2002, ISBN 978-0-19-566523-9
4. ↑ ^{a b} R. Grimmett, T. Inskipp: Birds of Northern India. Helm Field Guides, 2017, ISBN 978-0-7136-5167-6
5. ^ IOC World Bird List Dippers, leafbirds, flowerpeckers, sunbirds
6. ↑ Redlist