A timely species for this time of year, an exquisite Mistletoebird.
Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum)
1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 1600
Mistletoebirds are about 10cm in length and weigh about 9g, super tiny. The male is resplendent with his black, red and white colours. His throat, chest and undertail are bright red while his white underparts are divided vertically with a bold black line. These tiny birds are responsible for ‘planting’ the mistletoe that you’ll often see gracing trees in the bush and along roadsides. They have simple stomachs and excrete sticky mistletoe seeds by wiping them onto branches where the seeds quickly germinate. Environmental scientists used to be concerned about areas with many mistletoe plants parasitising trees but a fairly recent study showed that the number of bird species was higher in direct accordance with mistletoe abundance. Female Mistletoebirds lack the bright colouring of the male; they are grey above, white below and have a salmony-pink undertail. It is often their high-pitched flight call that makes me aware of their presence.
Today I had a long list of jobs to do in the garden which included weeding, planting, being bitten by ants, pruning, being bitten by a pretty black and yellow spider, raking, staking, swallowing a small insect, pulling a stomach muscle while trying to avoid swallowing said insect, misplacing shovel, reorganising the watering system, misplacing secateurs, carting several wheelbarrow loads of prunings and weeds to the ex-veggie patch, rushing to try to get all plants in the ground before the rain arrived, failing but feeling good to have almost finished, enjoyed the refreshing touch of the first large drops of rain, didn’t enjoy them when they became colder, tripped over the reorganised watering system and wished that the dogs would kindly walk themselves this evening.
I’ve been thinking about lirralirra‘s Christmas visitors, wondering who celebrates Christmas and who doesn’t, who will be surrounded with friends and family, and who will be alone. This week’s Mistletoebird comes with my warmest wishes and my hope that this week is good to you and filled with kindness and birdsong.
Happy birding
Kim
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Hi Kim,
Thanks for the xmas wishes and I would sincerely like to wish you the same.
My three beautiful boys have finally flown the coup, the last one this year and at 26 he was a long ‘fledging’. . .xmas this year will probably spent mainly alone and I’m getting used to that more and more and find that it takes less and less to be able to go out anytime birding with my cameras, something that I love very much. As a disabled pensioner, I need to have a word to Mr Morrison and his ‘henchmen’ for a payrise to cover the rising costs of fuel to ‘fuel’ my endeavours in the bush with said camera and birds. . .
Merry xmas to all your readers.
Bruce
Calling your youngest son a ‘long fledgling’ made me laugh. It’s great that you’re able to get out and about with your cameras Bruce. I hope 2019 brings you many fine sights and heaps of beaut images to prove it
Have a safe and very happy end to 2018 and a lovely time with family and friends as we enter 2019, Kim. Thanks for the beautiful image of the Mistletoebird.
Love from Neil and Denise Mansfield
And all the very best to you and Denise for 2019. You have some beautiful shots on your Flikr page Neil, the flapping ducking is absolutely exquisite
I remember seeing a bird from underneath wondering what is was until I saw it poop its seed onto a branch
I can’t help but think how lucky you were to be looking up at a pooping Mistletoebird rather than any other species!
I enjoy your posts. I have a regular Mistletoe bird visiting my yard and also caught the female on camera recently.
Thanks David. Fantastic that you have Mistletoebirds at your home, please let me know if you post your images online
I love getting my weekly email and especially liked today’s story, photo and particularly that last paragraph, it made me think.
Wishing you and yours a lovely Christmas week.
Thank you Donna 🙂 All the best to you and yours for 2019
Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and New Year and thanking you for all the joy you have brought to me (through your photos) over the last year.
Many thanks for your kind comment Carolyn, and all the best to you for 2019
Merry Christmas Kim to you and your family including the avian ones. Wishing everyone a merry safe Christmas. Warm regards
Alison
Thank you Alison, I had a lovely Christmas day, I hope you did too
Wow, what a day Kim. I hope a restful sleep allowed you to recuperate.
I think I might have seen a Mistletoebird on the fence a few days ago. I was aware it was a bird I had not seen before, and of course the colouring caught my attention.
How exciting about your Mistletoebird! Your new garden will soon be attracting all kinds of little beauties
Thanks for your beautiful photos and informative amusing posts. It always makes me glad to see there is a post from you in my inbox.
Very best Xmas wishes
Carolyn
That makes me happy Carolyn, I’m glad you enjoy your visits
Beautiful! Thank you for some wonderful images this year.
Thank you Judy 🙂
Great shot Kim. Have a great Christmas!
Thanks Stephen, I hope you had a great Christmas!
LOVE the Mistletoe bird. An absolute stunner.
Your Christmas wishes are truly beautiful – and I hope that they are true for you too.
I will be spending Christmas night providing support for Lifeline. I expect (sadly) it will be very, very busy. Christmas is a difficult time for many.
I hope that the phone lines were quieter than usual EC, and that the right words came easily. I’ve been trying to think of a way to thank you for all you do, and say that I hope you got enough support for you – I wanted to say it eloquently, instead it’s clumsy but heartfelt
Thank you. The New Year has dawned, and I hope that yours is full of health, happiness and birds.
Hi Kim,
Really beautiful bird. I discover this species and as usal that male is more nice than the female. But sometimes females are more sly.
he reminds me of bulbul no ? Great picture Kim.
Happy Christmas to you and your family and happy birding.
ps : I received your email, and I answered you again.
Hi Nath, I hope I replied to your email, I’ve been crazily busy and have over 1000 unread emails to get through when I have a spare day. Please re-send if you haven’t heard from me. The colouring of the bulbuls is similar but they are far bigger than the Mistletoebirds, measuring about twice the size and with more than three times the mass. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Sounds like a wonderful day, even with the insects as food. Love the Mistletoebirds. I had hoped to get a nice photo when I was in Australia but only saw them at a distance. They are so active. Great to see them eating berries and their role in dispersing seeds. May your garden grow and your joys grow too. Our gardens in North America are asleep right now but the birds are active. Having holidays with my sisters, hope yours is wonderful too. Thanks for all the great posts.
Mistletoebirds certainly aren’t the easiest species to spot or photograph; I hope you are able to visit Australia again soon and that one poses nicely for you. Thank you for your kind words, Thomas. I hope you had a wonderful, bird-filled Christmas with your sisters.
Wow that’s a busy day! You’re a whiz in the garden. The mistletoe bird is a beauty!
I have been doing a lot of whizzing around the garden! I’m glad you like the Mistletoebird 🙂
Love reading your posts. Thanks so much for the enjoyment you bring to so many.
Thank you Julie, your kind comment makes me smile 🙂
Hope you can take it easy tomorrow Kim, and perhaps take the dogs for a leisurely walk! Have a fabulous Christmas with your precious family.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas Gai, and that your lovely pups got to enjoy more leisurely walks than mine did
May you be surprised by enjoyment this Christmas lovely lady
xo
I had a wonderful Christmas day Greg, I hope you did too xo