Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
Dicaeum cruentatum
One of many flowerpeckers in which the male is brightly-colored and the female is predominantly brown. Adult male is black and white from below, but above it is bright red from the crown down to the rump. The female, while largely dull, can be distinguished from other flowerpeckers by her bright red rump that is often visible when hovering and foraging. Juvenile lacks the red rump, but has a white throat and is a much darker brown above than the similar Plain Flowerpecker. A lowland species, often found in gardens with flowering and fruiting plants, particularly mistletoe. Often detected through its metallic ticking calls.
Identification
Measuring 9 cm (3.5 in) and weighing 7 to 8 grams (0.25 to 0.28 oz), the scarlet-backed flowerpecker is a small bird with a short tail. It exhibits sexual dimorphism. The male has a navy blue face, wings and tail, with a broad bright red stripe from its crown to its upper tail coverts. The female is predominantly olive green with a black tail and scarlet upper tail coverts and rump. Both sexes have creamy white underparts, black eyes and legs, and a dark grey arched bill. The juvenile has plumage similar to the female but has an orange bill and lacks the bright red rump.
Taxonomy
In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the scarlet-backed flowerpecker in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The little Black, White, and Red Indian Creeper". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a preserved specimen that had been sent from Bengal to the silk-pattern designer and naturalist Joseph Dandridge in London. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the scarlet-backed flowerpecker with the treecreepers in the genus Certhia. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Certhia cruentata and cited Edwards' work. The scarlet-backed flowerpecker is now placed in the genus Dicaeum that was introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1816. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek dikaion. Cuvier claimed that this was a word for a very small Indian bird mentioned by the Roman author Claudius Aelianus but the word probably referred instead to the scarab beetle Scarabaeus sacer. The specific epithet cruentata is from Latin cruentatus meaning "blood-stained".<p>Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA of 70% of flowerpecker species showed the scarlet-backed and black-fronted flowerpecker (D. igniferum) - which is endemic to the Indonesian Lesser Sunda Islands - to be each other's closest relative; the males of both species have red plumage on their backs.<p>Six subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Dicaeum cruentatum
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Dicaeidae
- Genus
- Dicaeum
Range and habitat
It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. No global population studies have been undertaken; it is thought to be common throughout most of its range particular in Thailand, although it is considered rare in Bhutan and Nepal. It is found up to 1000 m (3500 ft), in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, wooded areas and gardens.In the north of its range, it is found in southeastern China to Fujian (as the subspecies Dicaeum c. cruentatum). It has been recorded from both native and plantation forest in West Bengal in India.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Tiny songbird, green above, gray below, with yellow throat and broad white ring around the eye. Found in the Phillippines (subspecies meyeni) and on Lanyu and Lüdao Islands southeast of Taiwan (subspecies batanis). Forages actively in tropical broadleaf forests and gardens, usually in small flocks, giving harsh, buzzy calls.
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Bulky and sluggish inhabitant of Sumatra’s highland forests. Resembles a cross between a large thrush and a small crow; both sexes are glossy black with an electric-blue tail, wing panel, and crown. Males have a dark face, whereas females have a buffy one. Dull naked red skin around the eye can be evident at close range. Like other cochoas, its inactive habits can make this species difficult to see as it perches up in dense vegetation. Song is a haunting mournful whistle.
Lesser Grass-Finch
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Large finch with a long spiky tail and strong yellow bill. It is yellow-brown above with dark lines running down the back and pale buff below with a gray face and a white throat. Differs from Wedge-tailed Grass-finch in having a white rather than buff throat. Usually found in marshes and humid grasslands. The song is a harsh “ch-ch-ch-ch.”
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