Grey-breasted Spiderhunter

Grey-breasted Spiderhunter
灰胸捕蛛鸟




I was delighted to come across a parasitic mistletoe species at Sg Sedim which bore white flowers, my first encounter of its kind. Flowers of common Malayan mistletoe species which we usually see are yellow or orange in color. I was even happier when I saw a spiderhunter, the mistletoe’s pollinator, sipping nectar from the flowers, and the bird turned out to be a grey-breasted spiderhunter, a lifer for me.
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(14th July 2016, Sungai Sedim Kedah.)

The mistletoe’s pollinator, sipping nectar from the flowers, and the bird turned out to be a grey-breasted spiderhunter,








































After studying and comparing the various species of spiderhunters, my
method of identifying if it is a grey-breasted spiderhunter is as follows:
 a: It has grey with short dashes from the throat down which
ends with vague and wavy longer streaks on the breast.
 b: It has yellow linings on the lower edge of each
wing; c: There are barred brownish lines on its vent.

 I was delighted to come across a parasitic mistletoe species at Sg Sedim which bore white flowers, my first encounter of its kind.

 Flowers of common Malayan mistletoe species which we usually see are yellow or orange in color. This species is white, a rare one for me. I have yet to find out its name.

Its young leaves are dark red, just like those of common Malayan mistletoe.

 It is a much bigger in size than the common Malayan mistletoe. It has the volume of a tree, only bigger and parasitizes on another tree.