birds free wallpaper 99: Mistletoe Bird

Monday 11 June 2012

Mistletoe Bird

Mistletoe Bird Biography
Occurring throughout mainland

Australia

, Mistletoebirds are often seen restlessly flitting about in the canopy of trees, or flying overhead while uttering a strident tzew. Their preferred food is the berries produced by mistletoe. The seeds within these fruits pass intact through the birds’ digestive system and are excreted in sticky strands that adhere to branches, where they germinate. In this manner, mistletoe is spread from tree to tree, providing extra habitat for the species which rely on it to survive.

The small Mistletoebird is the only Australian representative of the flowerpecker family, Dicaeidae, and is also known as the Australian Flowerpecker. Males have a glossy blue-black head, wings and upperparts, a bright red throat and chest, a white belly with a central dark streak and a bright red undertail. Females are grey above, white below, with a grey streak on the belly, and a paler red undertail. Young birds resemble females but are paler and have an orange, rather than dark, bill. These birds are swift and erratic fliers, moving singly or in pairs, usually high in or above the canopy.

The Mistletoebird is found throughout mainland Australia. It is also found in Papua New Guinea and eastern Indonesia. The Mistletoebird is found wherever mistletoe grows and is important in the dispersal of this plant species.

The Mistletoebird is highly adapted to its diet of mistletoe berries. It lacks the muscular gizzard (food-grinding organ) of other birds, instead having a simple digestive system through which the berries pass quickly, digesting the fleshy outer parts and excreting the sticky seeds onto branches. The seed can then germinate quickly into a new plant. In this way, the Mistletoebird ensures a constant supply of its main food. It will also catch insects, mainly to provide food for its young.

Mistletoebird builds a silky, pear-shaped nest with a slit-like entrance, made from matted plant down and spider web, which is suspended from a twig in the outer foliage of a tree. The female alone builds the nest and incubates the eggs, while both sexes feed the young.

Mistletoe Bird