Mistletoebird
Dicaeum hirundinaceum
Also known as: Australian Flowerpecker, Mistletoe Flowerpecker
About This Species
A tiny, brilliantly coloured bird of Australian woodland, scrub and gardens, tied closely to mistletoe, which it pollinates and whose sticky berries form the bulk of its diet. Look high in flowering or fruiting mistletoe clumps for a flash of the male's glossy blue-black, red and white plumage, and listen for a thin, tinkling call given from the canopy. Present year-round where mistletoe grows, with activity peaking when the berries ripen.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Watch from below the tree with binoculars rather than approaching the mistletoe clump itself, since these are small, easily disturbed birds that will simply move on if crowded.
- It is a common, unlisted species across its Australian range, so no special legal distance applies beyond general wildlife protection laws, but minimising noise and movement near a feeding tree keeps sightings sustainable.
- Avoid disturbing mistletoe clumps generally, since they support this and other dependent wildlife.
LCAvesPasseriformesDicaeidae
Seasonal Activity
339,162 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Dicaeidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.