SPECTACLED SPIDERHUNTER ON FLAME OF THE FOREST

VIDEO DESCRIPTION

 

 

An adult Spectacled Spiderhunter spotted near Khao Sok National Park in Surat Thani, on peninsular Thailand, feeding on the nectar of the flowers of the Flame of the Forest, also known as the Fountain Tree, using its long, downward-curved bill, that allows this bird to easily reach the nectar that is buried deep in the tree's large, fluffy, orange flowers, that grow between eight to fifteen centimeters tall and which are attractive to a variety of birds, including the Grey-breasted Spiderhunter, a distant cousin of the former.  Spectacled Spiderhunters have olive backs and brownish wings, with some darker colouring towards the lower back, wing tips and tail, a blackish, thick, broad-based bill that curves downward, a prominent yellow ear-patch, and a broad yellow eyering, from where it gets its common name and that distinguish it from most other spiderhunters. This bird in the family Nectariniidae is known by the binomial name Arachnothera flavigaster and it occurs around the equatorial regions of Southeast Asia, including in Borneo, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, and southern Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.