Dicaeum cruentatum
The Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum) is a diminutive and dazzling passerine, renowned for the male's striking scarlet back, contrasting sharply with glossy black wings and tail, and a clean white belly. Females, while lacking the male's vibrant crimson mantle, are subtly beautiful with olive-green upperparts, a distinctive red rump, and grayish underparts. Juveniles are duller overall, typically lacking the red plumage entirely. Measuring a mere 8-9 cm in length and weighing 5...
This species thrives in a variety of tropical and subtropical environments, primarily inhabiting primary and secondary forests, forest edges, mangroves, rubber and fruit plantations, and even gardens. It typically occurs at low to mid-elevations, from sea level up to around 1,500 meters.
Their diet consists mainly of nectar, small insects, spiders, and primarily the sticky berries of mistletoe plants. They forage by gleaning and probing flowers and fruits, often hanging upside down to reach their desired sustenance.
Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers are highly active diurnal birds, constantly flitting and darting among foliage, especially around flowering and fruiting plants. They exhibit agile foraging techniques, hovering, gleaning, and probing for nectar, small insects, and their favored mistletoe berries. Mal...
The Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker boasts a wide distribution across much of Southeast Asia and parts of the Indian subcontinent and southern China. Its breeding range encompasses northeastern India (primarily Assam, Meghalaya, and the northeastern states), Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambo...
Least Concern
- The Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker is one of the smallest members of the flowerpecker family and among the smallest birds in its Southeast Asian range. - It is a crucial disperser of mistletoe seeds; it extracts the berries, digests the fleshy pulp, and then expels the sticky seeds, which adhere t...