Little Spiderhunter
Arachnothera longirostra
Active little bird with a long, slightly decurved bill. Olive back, lemon-yellow underparts, and faint gray-and-white facial pattern. Active in the lower levels of secondary forest, forest edge, plantations, and gardens. Despite its name, also eats insects and nectar from flowers. Gives a wide range of buzzy nasal-sounding calls.
Identification
The distinctive long beak set it apart from other sunbirds. The sexes are similar, except that the female has a paler base on the lower mandible. Male has all black beak. They are found near their favourite nectar bearing trees, often species of wild Musaceae or flowers in gardens. They have a buzzy zick-zick call that is made regularly when disturbed or when foraging. Additionally, the song is series of rapid chipping notes and these can go on for long periods.
Taxonomy
The genus name Arachnothera means "spider hunter" and the species epithet refers to the long beak. About thirteen geographic races are recognized. The nominate race longirostra (Latham, 1790) is found in southwestern India, central and northeastern India, foothills of the Himalayas and into Thailand and Yunnan. Race sordida La Touche, 1921 is found in southern China and northeastern Thailand. Race pallida Delacour, 1932 is found in eastern Thailand and C & S Indochina. Two species from the Philippines, the orange-tufted and the pale spiderhunter were formerly considered subspecies. Several other island forms are noted:
- Scientific name
- Arachnothera longirostra
- Authority
- (Latham, 1790)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Nectariniidae
- Genus
- Arachnothera
Range and habitat
The species is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Within India, there are disjunct populations in the Eastern Ghats from Lamasinghi, Visakhapatnam and parts of Orissa) and the Western Ghats apart from the main distribution in north-east India that extends into Southeast Asia. A record from the Nicobar Islands is considered doubtful.<p>Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is usually found below the canopy. They are also found in gardens, attracted especially by flowers that yield nectar.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
They have been noted as good pollinators of wild banana species and several species of the ginger family and often visit Loranthus sp. (= Dendrophthoe sp.), Bombax malabaricum and Erythrina indica for nectar. They are often seen in plantations in forest areas. Although they are more often seen in secondary forests or in clearings and appear to be tolerant of human activities, they have become extinct in some forest fragments. In Singapore they have gone locally extinct within the botanical garden.<p>The breeding season in northeastern India is March to September but mainly May to August. In southern India it breeds from December to August. Two eggs are the usual clutch. The nest is a compact cup attached under a leaf of banana or similar broad leaved plant. The nest is suspended from the underside of the leaf using 150 or so "pop-rivets" of cobwebs and vegetable fibre, a unique method of using spider silk for animal architecture. <p>It is suspected that Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo and violet cuckoo are brood parasites on this species in India. <p>A species of haemosporidian, Leucocytozoon, has been noted in specimens from Malaysia.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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South American Painted-Snipe
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Sooty Shearwater
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Medium-sized, dark brown shearwater with silvery flashes on underwings. Narrow wings with quick, deep wingbeats. Widespread and common, especially in the Pacific; can sometimes be seen close to shore. Can be in massive flocks. Extremely similar to Short-tailed Shearwater, but Sooty is heavier and has straighter wings; also look for slightly longer bill and less rounded head. Brown plumage is reminiscent of Flesh-footed Shearwater, but Sooty is narrower-winged and has a smaller, all-dark bill.
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