Little Spiderhunter and wild banana plant

Posted by BESG on 24 January 09, Saturday
Contributed by Adrian Lim

A Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra) was photographed collecting nectar from a wild banana plant (Musa sp.) in Rengit, Johor, Malaysia by Adrian Lim recently.

So far, photographers have documented the spiderhunter drinking nectar from the cultivated banana plants… the Spectacled Spiderhunter (Arachnothera flavigaster) and Little Spiderhunter. This post shows one feeding from a wild banana plant.

Considering the name “spiderhunter”, has anyone photographed one catching a spider? Yes, the bird feeds on insects and other arthropods and the Little Spiderhunter had been reported to even take a spider from its web.

Images by Adrian Lim.

Reference:
Cheke, R. A., Mann, C. F. & Allen, R. (2001). Sunbirds: A guide to the sunbirds, flowerpeckers, spiderhunters and sugarbirds of the world. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.

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.

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Little Spiderhunter: Nectar from banana flowers An earlier post gave an account of a Spectacled Spiderhunter... Spectacled Spiderhunter and passiflora The Spectacled Spiderhunter (Arachnothera flavigaster) used to occur in... Streaked Spiderhunter catching a spider So far, we have been posting spiderhunters taking nectar... Spectacled Spiderhunter collecting nectar Spidethunters, as the name implies, is supposed to feed... Tongue of the Little Spiderhunter Besides spiders, the Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra) is a... The male Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker Adrian Lim a.k.a. wmw998 photographed a male Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

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