Olive-crowned Flowerpecker

About the Olive-crowned Flowerpecker

The olive-crowned flowerpecker (Dicaeum pectorale) is a small passerine bird in the flowerpecker family, Dicaeidae. It is found in far western New Guinea and on adjacent islands. It is a small bird, with males having olive upperparts, greyish-green underparts, a white throat and a scarlet breast patch. Females are similar to males, but lack the scarlet breast patch. It is mainly frugivorous, also supplementally feeding on spiders.

The olive-crowned flowerpecker is one of 41 species in the genus Dicaeum. It is sometimes considered to be conspecific with the red-capped flowerpecker, Louisiade flowerpecker, or the Halmahera flowerpecker. The olive-crowned flowerpecker was first described by Saloman Müller in 1843. The generic name Dicaeum is from the Greek δικαιον (dikaion), most likely referring to the scarab beetle, while the specific epithet pectorale is from the Latin pectoralis (of the breast).

There are two recognised subspecies of the olive-crowned flowerpecker: D. p. pectorale – Müller, 1843 : The nominate subspecies, it is found in northwestern New Guinea and on Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati, and Misool. D. p. ignotus – Mees, 1964... Wikipedia →