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Long-billed Spiderhunter Arachnothera robusta Scientific name definitions

Robert Cheke and Clive Mann
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2008

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

21–22 cm. Male has very long bill. Male nominate race is olive above, slight dark scaling on crown, remiges edged yellowish, tail blackish-brown, outer two feather pairs tipped white; dull olive-yellow below, brighter yellow on belly and undertail-coverts, streaked olive on throat and breast, orange-yellow pectoral tufts; underwing-coverts pale yellow; iris brown; bill black; legs blackish-olive. Female is similar to male but smaller, and lacks pectoral tufts. Juvenile is inadequately described, probably lacks dark crown markings and also, apparently, dark streaking. Race armata is much smaller than nominate, normally with slightly different streaking pattern.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Proposed race uropygialis, described from Malay Archipelago, synonymized with nominate. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Arachnothera robusta robusta Scientific name definitions

Arachnothera robusta robusta
A. r. robusta

Distribution

S Myanmar (extreme S Tenasserim) (1), S Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.
SUBSPECIES

Arachnothera robusta armata Scientific name definitions

Arachnothera robusta armata
A. r. armata

Distribution

Java.

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Various forest types, including dipterocarp, heath forest, peatswamp-forest and coniferous forest, also plantations, forest edge, secondary growth and gardens; sea-level to 1520 m in Malay Peninsula, to 1700 m in Sumatra and to 1000 m in Borneo.

Movement

No information.

Diet and Foraging

Diet includes caterpillars and other soft insects, mantids, also spiders (Araneae); also small flowers and fruits of creepers, and nectar, including from mistletoes (Loranthaceae). Forages singly, usually in canopy. Pollinates and takes nectar from durian trees (Durio).

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a rising “choi, choi, choi, choi…”. Flight call high-pitched “chit-chit, chit-chit”; harsh “chuu-luut chuu-luut” from high perch.

Breeding

Season Feb–Jun/Jul in Malay Peninsula; laying recorded Sept in Sumatra (Jambi) and Jan, Apr–Aug and Dec in Java; in Borneo, laying May, Jun and Dec in NW (Sarawak), nestling in Mar and active gonads in Jun in N (Sabah), and young in Sept in S (Kalimantan Tengah). Nest bottle-shaped or trough-shaped with cup at end, up to 43 cm long including entrance tunnel (c. 22·5 cm long), entrance hole 11·5 cm wide, with chamber 10 × 65 cm, made from felted grass stems and other plant materials, woven together and held against underside of banana leaf by cobweb slings, knotted on surface of leaf, or built by sewing together the edges of a banana leaf to form tube, with entrance tunnel opening towards tip of leaf (or occasionally attached to epiphyte or creeper), 2–5 m above ground. Clutch 2 eggs, matt white or faintly glossed, with zone of black spots and lines around broadest part. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Rare in Thailand and Sumatra; fairly common in Peninsular Malaysia; scarce in Borneo; locally common at sea-level in Java, but generally rare.
Distribution of the Long-billed Spiderhunter - Range Map
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Distribution of the Long-billed Spiderhunter

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Cheke, R. and C. Mann (2020). Long-billed Spiderhunter (Arachnothera robusta), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.lobspi1.01
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