The yellow-crowned flowerpecker (''Dicaeum anthonyi'') is a species 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 ...

in the 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 ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Luzon Island Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political cen ...

in 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 ...

. The

flame-crowned flowerpecker The flame-crowned flowerpecker (''Dicaeum kampalili'') is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae. It is endemic to Mindanao in the Philippines. The yellow-crowned flowerpecker (''Dicaeum anthonyi''), which is endemic to Luzon, was formerly co ...

(''Dicaeum kampalili''), which is endemic to

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

, was formerly considered conspecific. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

. It is becoming rare due to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Description and taxonomy

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

describes the bird as "A tiny bird of mossy montane forest and edge. Male has glossy black upperparts and pale underparts, whiter on the throat. Races differ. Luzon birds are yellow-orange under the base of the tail and on the crown. Similar to Bicolored flowerpecker, but male Flame-crowned has a bright crown patch and female has a yellowish belly. Voice includes a high-pitched descending whistle and a sharp "tsik!" Exhibits

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

in which males have the eponymous yellow crown and vent while females are much more dull and have uniform olive color and does not the black upperparts It is seen feeding on flowering and fruiting trees.

Habitat and conservation status

It inhabits tropic moist

at 1,000-2,000 meters above sea level. IUCN has assessed this bird as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

with its population being estimated as 10,000 to 19,999 mature individuals. Forest loss is a threat especially in its lower altitude limits which are more prone to legal and

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...

, mining and conversion into farmland and road development. Extensive lowland deforestation has occurred on

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

. In the late 1980s, it was estimated that just 120 km² of forest remained on Mindoro, with a very small proportion below 1,000 m and this figure still continues to decrease. It is recommended to investigate potential threats and quantify more precisely the population size of the species. Protect areas of suitable habitat and safeguard against deforestation.

References

yellow-crowned flowerpecker Endemic birds of the Philippines yellow-crowned flowerpecker Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Birds of Luzon {{Dicaeidae-stub