Pale-billed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum erythrorhynchos) with a Muntingia calabura (Singapur cherry) fruit W2 IMG 8494

Thick-billed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum agile) on Helicteres isora W2 IMG 1379

'' Dicaeum '' is a genus of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s in the flowerpecker family

Dicaeidae The flowerpeckers are a family, Dicaeidae, of passerine birds. The family comprises two genera, ''Prionochilus'' and ''Dicaeum'', with 50 species in total. The family has sometimes been included in an enlarged sunbird family Nectariniidae. The b ...

, a group of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

s tropical southern Asia and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

east to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and south to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The genus ''Dicaeum'' is closely related to the genus ''

Prionochilus ''Prionochilus'' is one of two genera flowerpecker that make up the family Dicaeidae. The genus differs from the other flowerpecker genus, ''Dicaeum'' in having ten long primary feathers in the wing and in the character of its calls. A study comp ...

'' and forms a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

group. Its members are very small, stout, often brightly coloured birds, 10 to 18 cm in length, with short tails, short thick curved bills and tubular tongues. The latter features reflect the importance of nectar in the diet of many species, although berries, spiders and insects are also taken. 2-4 eggs are laid, typically in a purse-like nest suspended from a tree.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Dicaeum'' was introduced by the French naturalist

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...

in 1816. The name is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''dikaion''. Cuvier claimed that this was a word for a very small Indian bird mentioned by the Roman author

Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus ( grc, Κλαύδιος Αἰλιανός, Greek transliteration ''Kláudios Ailianós''; c. 175c. 235 AD), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus ...

but the word probably referred instead to the scarab beetle ''

Scarabaeus sacer ''Scarabaeus sacer'', common name sacred scarab, is the type species of dung beetles in its genus and the family Scarabaeidae. Taxonomy ''Scarabaeus sacer'' was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the st ...

''. The type species was designated as the scarlet-backed flowerpecker by

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother o ...

in 1840. The genus contains the following species: * Golden-rumped flowerpecker (''Dicaeum annae)'' *

Thick-billed flowerpecker The thick-billed flowerpecker (''Dicaeum agile'') is a tiny bird in the flowerpecker group. They feed predominantly on fruits and are active birds that are mainly seen in the tops of trees in forests. It is a resident bird with a wide distribut ...

(''Dicaeum agile)'' * Striped flowerpecker (''Dicaeum aeruginosum)'' *

Brown-backed flowerpecker The brown-backed flowerpecker (''Dicaeum everetti'') is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae. The scientific name commemorates British colonial administrator and zoological collector Alfred Hart Everett. Distribution and habitat It is foun ...

(''Dicaeum everetti)'' * Whiskered flowerpecker (''Dicaeum proprium)'' * Yellow-vented flowerpecker (''Dicaeum chrysorrheum)'' * Yellow-bellied flowerpecker (''Dicaeum melanozanthum)'' * Legge's flowerpecker (''Dicaeum vincens)'' * Yellow-sided flowerpecker (''Dicaeum aureolimbatum)'' * Olive-capped flowerpecker (''Dicaeum nigrilore)'' * Yellow-crowned flowerpecker (''Dicaeum anthonyi)'' * Flame-crowned flowerpecker (''Dicaeum kampalili'')'''' * Bicolored flowerpecker (''Dicaeum bicolor)'' * Red-keeled flowerpecker (''Dicaeum australe)'' * Black-belted flowerpecker (''Dicaeum haematostictum)'' * Scarlet-collared flowerpecker (''Dicaeum retrocinctum)'' *

Cebu flowerpecker The Cebu flowerpecker (''Dicaeum quadricolor'') is a small passerine bird. It is endemic to Cebu Island in the Philippines. Feared to have become extinct early in the 20th century, it was rediscovered in 1992 in a small patch of limestone forest ...

(''Dicaeum quadricolor'') *

Orange-bellied flowerpecker The orange-bellied flowerpecker (''Dicaeum trigonostigma'') is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Habitat Its natural hab ...

(''Dicaeum trigonostigma)'' * Buzzing flowerpecker (''Dicaeum hypoleucum'') *

Pale-billed flowerpecker The pale-billed flowerpecker or Tickell's flowerpecker (''Dicaeum erythrorhynchos'') is a tiny bird that feeds on nectar and berries, found in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and western Myanmar. The bird is common especially in urban gardens with ...

(''Dicaeum erythrorhynchos)'' *

Nilgiri flowerpecker The Nilgiri flowerpecker (''Dicaeum concolor'') is a tiny bird in the flowerpecker family. Formerly a subspecies of what used to be termed as the plain flowerpecker although that name is now reserved for ''Dicaeum minullum''. Like others of the ...

(''Dicaeum concolor)'' * Plain flowerpecker (''Dicaeum minullum)'' *

Andaman flowerpecker The Andaman flowerpecker (''Dicaeum virescens'') is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae. It is endemic to the Andaman Islands. Behaviour and ecology Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. References *Rasmu ...

(''Dicaeum virescens)'' *

Pygmy flowerpecker The pygmy flowerpecker (''Dicaeum pygmaeum'') is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forest and tropical moist montane forest. References pygmy flowe ...

(''Dicaeum pygmaeum'') * Crimson-crowned flowerpecker (''Dicaeum nehrkorni'') * Buru flowerpecker (''Dicaeum erythrothorax)'' * Halmahera flowerpecker (''Dicaeum schistaceiceps)'' * Ashy flowerpecker (''Dicaeum vulneratum)'' * Olive-crowned flowerpecker (''Dicaeum pectorale)'' * Red-capped flowerpecker (''Dicaeum geelvinkianum)'' * Louisiade flowerpecker (''Dicaeum nitidum)'' * Red-banded flowerpecker (''Dicaeum eximium)'' * Midget flowerpecker (''Dicaeum aeneum)'' *

Mottled flowerpecker The mottled flowerpecker or white-mottled flowerpecker (''Dicaeum tristrami'') is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae. It is endemic to Makira in the Solomon Islands. It inhabits primary forest and secondary growth, most commonly in the mou ...

(''Dicaeum tristrami)'' * Black-fronted flowerpecker (''Dicaeum igniferum)'' *

Blue-cheeked flowerpecker The blue-cheeked flowerpecker or red-chested flowerpecker (''Dicaeum maugei'') is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae. It is found on the Lesser Sundas (namely Timor island). Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland f ...

(''Dicaeum maugei)'' *

Mistletoebird The mistletoebird (''Dicaeum hirundinaceum''), also known as the mistletoe flowerpecker, is a species of flowerpecker native to most of Australia (though absent from Tasmania and the driest desert areas) and also to the eastern Maluku Islands o ...

(''Dicaeum hirundinaceum)'' * Grey-sided flowerpecker (''Dicaeum celebicum'') * Black-sided flowerpecker (''Dicaeum monticolum'') * Fire-breasted flowerpecker (''Dicaeum ignipectus)'' * Blood-breasted flowerpecker (''Dicaeum sanguinolentum)'' *

Scarlet-backed flowerpecker The scarlet-backed flowerpecker (''Dicaeum cruentatum'') is a species of passerine bird in the flowerpecker family Dicaeidae. Sexually dimorphic, the male has navy blue upperparts with a bright red streak down its back from its crown to its tail ...

(''Dicaeum cruentatum)'' * Scarlet-headed flowerpecker (''Dicaeum trochileum)'' *

Spectacled flowerpecker The spectacled flowerpecker (''Dicaeum dayakorum'') is a species of bird belonging to the flowerpecker family, Dicaeidae. It was first observed in 2009 in the forests of Borneo, but due to limited information and the lack of a specimen for scient ...

(''Dicaeum dayakorum'')

References

External links

Flowerpecker videos and photographs
{{Taxonbar, from=Q905044 Dicaeidae Bird genera Taxa named by Georges Cuvier