Pygmy Flowerpecker

Dicaeum pygmaeum

A tiny bird of forest and edge from the lowlands to middle elevations in the mountains. Has a fairly long, thin, slightly curved bill, gray sides, whitish coloring from the throat to the belly, and yellowish on the rump, under the base of the tail, and on the edges to the wing feathers. Males have slightly glossy blackish upperparts, whereas females have an olive back and a grayish head. Similar to Scarlet-collared, Black-belted, and Red-keeled Flowerpeckers, but lacks any red on the underparts. Voice includes a typical flowerpecker “tuk!” given regularly, sometimes mixed with a high-pitched piping “tsii!”

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Dicaeum pygmaeum
Authority
(Kittlitz, 1833)
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Dicaeidae
Genus
Dicaeum

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Other Birds

Red-shouldered Macaw

Red-shouldered Macaw

Diopsittaca nobilis

Small macaw, easily confused with a large parakeet. Largely green apart from a contrasting bare white face, blue crown, and red shoulders. The bill varies in color between regions; all dark in the northern subspecies, with a paler upper mandible and dark lower mandible in other subspecies. Typically found foraging in groups or pairs in savannas, palm groves, and occasionally in urban areas. Has a loud rasping call.

Yellow-footed Honeyguide

Yellow-footed Honeyguide

Melignomon eisentrauti

Medium-sized honeyguide with a plain face, a slim pale bill, yellow legs, and large white patches in the outer tail. Found in the middle levels and canopy of humid forest at low and middle elevations. The distinctive vocalization is a series of around a dozen rising “sveeya” notes. The series slows down and becomes slightly lower-pitched at the end. Very similar to Zenker’s Honeyguide, but there is only minor overlap in range, and Yellow-footed is paler overall with more white in the tail. Similar to other honeyguides, but separated by the slim bill and the yellow legs. Separated from most greenbuls by the white in the tail, and from Honeyguide and Sjöstedt's Greenbuls by the smaller size and shorter tail. 

Ornate Fruit-Dove

Ornate Fruit-Dove

Ptilinopus ornatus

A fruit dove primarily of foothill forest but wanders to lowland and montane forest. Two very different races. Dark red-capped race from the Bird’s Head of New Guinea, and yellow-green capped further east. Note the white band from the bill around the back of the neck and clay-colored chest. Similar to Pink-spotted Dove, but Ornate Fruit-Dove has a dark red wedge on the shoulder and yellow tip to the tail. Voice a slow but accelerating series of rising “woop” notes, similar to that of Pink-spotted but not as fast.

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