Plain Flowerpecker
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| Dicaeum concolor Jerdon, 1840 |
The Plain Flowerpecker (Dicaeum concolor) is a small passerine bird. It is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India east to Indonesia.
The Plain Flowerpecker is a common resident breeding bird of woodland edges, cultivation and isolated stands of trees, often in hilly country. Two or three eggs are laid in a purse-like nest suspended from a tree or bush.
As its name suggests, this species lacks the brightly coloured male plumage typically shown by flowerpeckers. It is a very small, stout bird, 9 cm in length, with a short tail, short thick curved bill and tubular tongue. The latter features reflect the importance of nectar in its diet, although berries, spiders and insects are also taken.
The adult Plain Flowerpecker has olive-brown upperparts and greyish white underparts. Some races, such as the Himalayan D. c. olivaceum have greener-tinged upperparts, and the Andaman Islands race D. c. virescens is distinctive, with green upperparts, a pale green breast, and yellow belly.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Dicaeum concolor. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
