Spectacled Spiderhunter and passiflora

Posted by BESG on 11 December 08, Thursday
Contributed by Adrian Lim

The Spectacled Spiderhunter (Arachnothera flavigaster) used to occur in Singapore, but no more. However, it is still a resident of nearby Malaysia.

As the name implies, it is supposed to hunt spiders. However, it is more known for its nectar diet than its animal diet. According to Wells (2007), its nectar source includes coconut (Cocos nucifera), coral tree (Erythrina spp.), rose apple (Syzygium jambos), durian (Durio zibethinus), African tulip (Spathodea campanulata), jacaranda (Jacaranda filicifolia), mata lembu (Firmiana malayana) and wild banana (Musa violacea).

Scarlet passion flower (Passiflora coccines) is now another nectar source for this spiderhunter. This is a semi-woody vine bearing large scarlet flower. The plant originates from Tropical America and is widely grown in many tropical country gardens and parks for its large and attractive flowers.

Image by Adrian Lim.

References:
1. Corner, E. J. H. (1988). Waysides trees of Malaya. Vol. 1-2. Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur.
2. Ng, F. S. P., 2006. Tropical horticulture and gardening. Kuala Lumpur: Clearwater Publication. 361 pp.
3. Wells, D.R., 2007. The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsular. Vol. II, Passerines. Christopher Helm, London. 800 pp.

This post is a cooperative effort between www.naturepixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

Related Posts:

Spectacled Spiderhunter collecting nectar Spidethunters, as the name implies, is supposed to feed... Streaked Spiderhunter stealing nectar from angel’s trumpet Lena Chow sent in an image of a Streaked... Little Spiderhunter and wild banana plant A Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra) was photographed collecting nectar... Little Spiderhunter: Nectar from banana flowers An earlier post gave an account of a Spectacled Spiderhunter... Little Spiderhunter harvesting nectar from torch ginger Steven Chong sent in an image of a Little... Tongue of the Little Spiderhunter Besides spiders, the Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra) is a... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Email Post

Categories: Feeding-plants

No comments yet.

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Anti-spam word: (Required)*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture. Click on the picture to hear an audio file of the word.