Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker Prionochilus maculatus Scientific name definitions

10 cm; male 7·5–11·8 g, female 7·8–7·9 g. Nominate race has dark olive-green head, orange patch on crown, pale lores; upperparts, including upperwing, olive-green, remiges with yellowish edgings, tail darker with black tip; malar stripe and ear-coverts greenish-olive, greyish-green or green, moustachial stripe and throat white; underparts yellow, broadly streaked greyish, green or olive-green, centre of abdomen with less streaking on brighter yellow ground; iris red; upper mandible black, lower mandible black or bluish-grey with paler base; legs grey. Sexes similar. Juvenile lacks orange on crown, is dull greenish-olive above, dull greyish-olive below, with yellowish centre of belly, bill pale. Race <em>oblitus</em> has grey forehead, whitish upper throat; <em>septentrionalis</em> is more grey on head, is deeper yellow below than previous, has orange-chrome in centre of breast; natunensis has brighter and more yellow underparts than nominate, throat more washed with yellow, and dark markings more olive than grey.

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.

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.

Dipterocarp, alluvial and secondary forests, peatswamp-forest, occasionally in montane forest, at forest edge, and in scrub, plantations and cultivation; to 1500 m.

None recorded.

Fruits , nectar and pollen of mistletoes (Loranthaceae); other fruits, including those of Melastoma malabathricum andfigs (Ficus); also probably pollen of Eugenia dyerana. Large blue berries taken into bill, contents squeezed out and swallowed, skin discarded. Forages mostly in middle and upper storeys. Singly or in pairs.

In Malay Peninsula, eggs mid-Aug, fledglings late Jul and late Oct, and juveniles early May to early Oct; laying in Mar on Belitung (Sumatra); in Borneo, juveniles May and Aug in Kalimantan Tengah, and birds with enlarged gonads in Feb and Apr–Jul in Sabah. Nest pouch-shaped, with triangular entrance hole pointing upwards, constructed of fern rhizomes and tree cotton, reinforced at rim with spider webs, suspended 2·5 m up from twig of sapling, and surrounded by overhanging leaves, on forest path. Clutch 2 eggs, longish ovate, glossy white, with dense brown blotches and spots coalescing around broad end; no information on incubation and nestling periods; fledglings tended by both parents.

Not globally threatened. Locally common in S Myanmar; locally common to uncommon in S Thailand and common in Peninsular Malaysia ; not uncommon in Sumatra and Borneo. Formerly occurred in Singapore, but now extinct there. Considered “near-threatened” in Malay Peninsula on account of possible future habitat loss. Occurs in several protected areas, e.g. Khao Pra Bang Wildlife Sanctuary, in Thailand, Way Kambas National Park, in Sumatra, and Danum Valley Conservation Area, in Borneo.