Ashy Flowerpecker
Dicaeum vulneratum
A tiny, plump, short-tailed gray songbird. Male distinctive: uniform gray except for diagnostic prominent red breast patch and red rump. Female lacks chest patch, but still shows diagnostic red rump. Juvenile is gray, lacking any red. Found singly or in pairs in forest, forest edge, and plantations, usually at upper levels of trees, in lowlands and foothills. Confined to a limited range in the south Moluccas. Calls include a high-pitched, disyllabic “tsee-oo,” a simpler, abbreviated “tsew,” a harsher “bzit” and “bzeet,” and a “si-si-si-si-si-si-si” song that varies in number of notes.
Identification
Ashy flowerpeckers range between 8 and 8.5 cm in length. The species is dimorphic - both adult males and females have primarily brown upperparts and gray underparts with black legs and bill and a red patch on the rump (this patch is yellowish-green in juveniles), but males have a red patch on the breast, while females have a white throat and breast. Apart from rump color, juveniles are similar to females in coloration.<p>The ashy flowerpecker's thin, high-pitched song varies throughout its range. On Ambon, it consists of three trisyllabic notes, while on Seram, it consists of three disyllabic notes.
Taxonomy
The ashy flowerpecker is closely related to several other species in the genus Dicaeum, forming a species complex with the crimson-crowned flowerpecker, the Buru flowerpecker, the olive-crowned flowerpecker, the Halmahera flowerpecker, the red-banded flowerpecker, and the midget flowerpecker. <p>Despite being found on several islands, the species is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Dicaeum vulneratum
- Authority
- Wallace, 1863
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Dicaeidae
- Genus
- Dicaeum
Range and habitat
The ashy flowerpecker is found on the island of Seram, as well as the surrounding islands of Saparua, Boano, Ambon, and the islands of the Gorong archipelago. Within that range, it favors both forests and more degraded woody areas like gardens and farm edges. It can be found anywhere between sea level and 2100 meters in elevation but is most common between 300 and 600 meters.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Ashy flowerpeckers build globular nests out of plant fibers and leaves.<p>Ashy flowerpeckers feed primarily on nectar, but might also consume mistletoe pollen and fruit. They forage both in the forest canopy and at lower levels, joining mixed-species flocks in addition to foraging individually.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
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