Spectacled Spiderhunter Arachnothera flavigaster Scientific name definitions

21–22 cm; three adult males 44·4–49 g, one female 38·4 g. Has long, thick, curved bill. Plumage is mostly olive, more greenish above, and more yellow on flanks and belly, edges of remiges brighter olive-green, with yellow or bronzy tinge; large yellow ear patch, and broad yellow eyering; iris brown; bill blackish, reddish at base of lower mandible; legs yellowish-brown. Sexes similar. Juvenile undescribed.

S Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo; recently recorded in extreme S Myanmar (1 Robson, C. (2015). From the field. BirdingASIA 24: 144–148. Close ).

Lowland dipterocarp forest, peat­­swamp-forest and secondary forest, forest edge, clearings, plantations, cultivation and gardens; often around bananas (Musa) and gingers (Zingiberaceae). Sea-level to 300 m, perhaps to 1100 m, in Malay Peninsula; to 1500 m in Sumatra, and to 1600 m, possibly 1800 m, in Borneo.

None recorded.

Insects, spiders (Araneae), pollen, fruit and nectar. Forages singly, occasionally in pairs; sometimes in small groups at fruit. Usually in middle to upper storeys of vegetation. Recorded nectar sources include, among others, coconut, Erythrina, Eugenia, Firmiana fulgens, Spathodea and Jacaranda. Hovers in front of flowers; probes fruits. Pollinates and takes nectar from durian trees (Durio).

High-pitched “chit-chit”; from perch or in flight an explosive “tak”, “cha-tak”, “cha-ta-tak” and variants.

In Malay Peninsula, nest-building in Feb, copulation seen mid-Apr, laying calculated as Mar, Jun, Sept and Nov; laying in Apr (and birds with enlarged testes Jul–Aug) in Borneo. Nest circular or with spout, of compacted plant fibre and lined with seed pappus, one nest 90 mm wide, 77 mm deep, egg-chamber 77 mm in diameter and 50 mm deep, sewn on to underside of coconut or other palm frond by silk or placed between large rubber tree leaves sewn together, 5·5–13 m above ground. Clutch 2 eggs, almost unglossed, dull greenish-grey with dark grey to brownish flecks, markings denser at broad end. No other information.

Not globally threatened. Locally common to uncommon in Malay ­Peninsula, where has possibly increased in S; extirpated from Singapore main island. Not uncommon in Sumatra; uncommon to rare in Borneo. Possible former presence in extreme S Vietnam requires further investigation. Occurs in Taman Negara National Park, in Peninsular Malaysia; rare in Danum Valley Conservation Area, in Borneo.