Birds of Singapore
by the Bird Society of Singapore
Pachyglossa agilis
Family: Flowerpeckers · Status: Very rare visitor · Size: 10 cm · Conservation: Least Concern
Resident across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, including the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, the Lesser Sundas, and the Philippines.
Adults have brownish to olive-green upperparts, pale white underparts with dark streaks, reddish-orange irides, a malar line, and a dark, thick bill. Iris color and white tips to outer undertail feathers can be used to distinguish it from Brown-backed Flowerpecker, which remains unrecorded in Singapore. Juveniles are less streaked than adults, have a yellowish wash on the underparts, and show a pale lower mandible.
Forest edge, secondary growth, plantations, orchards, and gardens, particularly around flowering and fruiting trees and mistletoes.
Forages in the canopy and middle stratum for fruits (mistletoes, figs), flowers, and insects; joins mixed foraging parties. A distinctive habit of jerking the tail from side to side when perched aids identification.