The Mistletoe Bird (A Striking Example of Avian Beauty)

To me, the male Mistletoe bird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) is is among most striking of the Australian passerines. It is also a bird that, although not uncommon, somehow eluded me for years. That is until I visited the Aldinga Scrub, and area of remnant mallee vegetation, south of Adelaide. I could hear several Mistletoe birds calling and had some good views through my binoculars. Eventually one landed on a dead branch out in the open giving me the chance to snap this photo. This bird plays an important part in spreading the parasitic Mistletoe plants that are often seen on Eucalyptus trees. They eat the sticky seeds and later defecate on a tree branch, thus spreading the plants to new trees. Aside from Australia, this bird is also found in Papua New Guinea and parts of Indonesia.

_{( All photos, videos, and text on this blog are my own original work - @mostly.nature )}

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