Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) [XC279234]
by Marc Anderson from Queensland: Cape York Peninsula: Daintree NP, Australia (call, calls)
Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) [XC287055]
by Marc Anderson from Bowra Station, near Cunnamulla, Queensland, Australia (song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Mainly October - January but according to the fruiting of mistletoes.
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Nest
Neat, pear-shaped, with a slit-shaped side-entrance, composed of plant fiber, thickly bound with cobweb, usually decorated with the brown castings of wood-boring insects or the dried heads of flowers, suspended from a slender branch of a leafy tree, from about 1 - 12 meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
Usually 3; plain white; oval; about 17 x 11 mm. Incubation: about 10 - 12 days; by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 15 days.
Proposed subspecies tormenti, described from Point Torment (King Sound), in northern Western Australia, and yorki, from Cape York, in northern Queensland, considered insufficiently distinct from nominate to warrant separation.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
hirundinaceum (Shaw & Nodder, 1792) - Throughout Australia, including Tiwi Island, Groote Eylandt and islands in Torres Strait, but not in nearly treeless deserts, Tasmainia, islands in Bass Strait and Kangaroo Island, SA.
ignicolle Gray, GR, 1858 - Aru Island. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Aru Flowerpecker (Dicaeum ignicolle).
keiense Salvadori, 1874 - Watubela Is, Tayandu Group and Kai Is, in eastern Indonesia. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Pink-breasted Flowerpecker (Dicaeum keiense).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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