Dicaeum | |
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Male Wakatobi flowerpecker. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Dicaeidae |
Genus: |
Dicaeum Cuvier, 1816 |
Species | |
see text |
see text
Dicaeum is a genus of birds in the flowerpecker family, a group of passerines tropical southern Asia and Australasia from India east to the Philippines and south to Australia. The genus is closely related to the genus Prionochilus and forms a monophyletic group.
Its members are very small, stout, often brightly coloured birds, 10 to 18 cm in length, with short tails, short thick curved bills and tubular tongues. The latter features reflect the importance of nectar in the diet of many species, although berries, spiders and insects are also taken.
2-4 eggs are laid, typically in a purse-like nest suspended from a tree.