The
spiderhunters are birds of the
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
Arachnothera, part of the
sunbirdThe sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects,...
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
Nectariniidae. The genus contains eleven species found in the forests of south and southeastern Asia. They are large representatives of the sunbird family, with drab plumage and long strongly curved bills. They feed on both nectar and a range of small arthropods.
Unlike the rest of the family, which is more widespread, the spiderhunters are confined to the Oriental zoogeographic region, occurring from
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
east to The Philippines and from the
HimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow", is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
south to
JavaJava is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia...
; they reach their greatest species diversity in the Thai-Malay peninsula,
SumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world .-Etymology:Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit...
and
BorneoBorneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided among Indonesia , Malaysia and Brunei . Indonesians refer to the island as Kalimantan...
.
The
spiderhunters are birds of the
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
Arachnothera, part of the
sunbirdThe sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects,...
familyIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
Nectariniidae. The genus contains eleven species found in the forests of south and southeastern Asia. They are large representatives of the sunbird family, with drab plumage and long strongly curved bills. They feed on both nectar and a range of small arthropods.
Distribution and habitat
Unlike the rest of the family, which is more widespread, the spiderhunters are confined to the Oriental zoogeographic region, occurring from
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
east to The Philippines and from the
HimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow", is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
south to
JavaJava is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia...
; they reach their greatest species diversity in the Thai-Malay peninsula,
SumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world .-Etymology:Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit...
and
BorneoBorneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided among Indonesia , Malaysia and Brunei . Indonesians refer to the island as Kalimantan...
. The spiderhunters are mostly forest birds, occupying a wide range of forest types including true rainforest, dipterocarp forest, swamp forest, bamboo forest, secondary forest, forest edge and other highly degraded forest. In addition several species occur in human-created habitat such as gardens or plantations. Most species are lowland species, but the
Whitehead's SpiderhunterThe Whitehead's Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia....
is more of a montane species.
Description
The spiderhunters are amongst the largest of their family, measuring between 13 to 22 cm in length. The
Spectacled SpiderhunterThe Spectacled Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam....
is the heaviest of the sunbirds, weighing as much as 49 g. The
billsThe beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
of the spiderhunters are long, at least twice the length of the head, and are decurved and stout. The tongue forms a complete tube for most of its length. The
plumagePlumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
is much drabber than the other brightly coloured sunbirds, is the same for both sexes, and contains no
iridescenceIridescence is generally known as the property of certain surfaces which appear to change colour as the angle of view changes. Iridescence may be seen commonly in soap bubbles, butterfly wings and sea shells.- Description :...
. The uppersides of most species are olive-green and the undersides dull white or yellow - in half the species the undersides are streaked. The most atypical spiderhunter plumage is that of the
Whitehead's SpiderhunterThe Whitehead's Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia....
, which is dark brown with white streaking on the undersides and back and a yellow rump.
The calls of the spiderhunters are very simple, typically a metallic
chip which is repeated multiple times to form the song. The song of the
Little SpiderhunterThe Little Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam....
is described as an "incessant squeaky whistle".
Diet and feeding
The spiderhunters are omnivorous. As their name suggests they will eat spiders, and are capable of extracting spiders from the centre of their
websA spider web, spiderweb, spider's web or cobweb is a device built by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets.Insects can get trapped in spider webs, providing nutrition to the spider; however, not all spiders build...
, a tricky task. They also consume a wide range of other small arthropod prey including crickets, caterpillars, butterflies, ants and other insects. In addition to animal prey they also consume nectar from flowers. Their tubular tongue is pushed against the top of the upper mandible of the bill, then pulled in and out, creating a pressure difference which allows the nectar to be sucked into the mouth. Spiderhunters may be important
pollinatorA pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain...
s of some species of plants, and species pollinated by spiderhunters have long tubular flowers. They may also participate in nectar-robbing, which consists of inserting the bill into the side of the flower to extract nectar without being dabbed with pollen. Little is known about their territorial behaviour, but there have been reports of some species defending territories. The spiderhunters are less gregarious than other sunbirds, and are usually seen alone or as part of a pair.
Breeding
The spiderhunters are thought to be
monogamousMonogamy is the state of having only one sexual partner at any one time. The word monogamy comes from the Greek word monos "μονός", which means one or alone, and the Greek word gamos "γάμος", which means marriage or union...
like most of the rest of the family. They vary from the other sunbirds in the nature of their
nestA bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term is popular in reference to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...
, which is suspended underneath a large leaf, usually a banana leaf but sometimes a palm frond or even a branch. The style of nest can be quite variable, a simple cup in the case of the
Streaked SpiderhunterThe Streaked Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist...
, an elongated tube for the
Yellow-eared SpiderhunterThe Yellow-eared Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam....
and a bottle shape for the
Long-billed SpiderhunterThe Long-billed Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand....
. The nests are suspended from the leaf by using spider web or by pushing plant fibres through the leaf. The nests are made of grasses and leaves and lined with soft materials. Nest construction, as is typical of the family, is carried out by the female alone. Unlike the other sunbirds, however, both the male and female
incubateIncubation is the process by which birds hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of sitting on eggs to incubate...
the eggs. The spiderhunters lay two or three eggs. Their nests are sometimes
parasitisedBrood parasites are organisms that use the strategy of brood-parasitism, a kind of kleptoparasitism found among birds, fish or insects, involving the manipulation and use of host individuals either of the same or different species to raise the young of the brood-parasite...
by
cuckooThe cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...
s.
Species
There are 11 species:
- Thick-billed Spiderhunter
The Thick-billed Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand....
Arachnothera crassirostris
- Spectacled Spiderhunter
The Spectacled Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam....
Arachnothera flavigaster
- Long-billed Spiderhunter
The Long-billed Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand....
Arachnothera robusta
- Little Spiderhunter
The Little Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam....
Arachnothera longirostra
- Yellow-eared Spiderhunter
The Yellow-eared Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam....
Arachnothera chrysogenys
- Naked-faced Spiderhunter
The Naked-faced Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is endemic to the Philippines.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
Arachnothera clarae
- Grey-breasted Spiderhunter
The Grey-breasted Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam....
Arachnothera modesta - sometimes included in A. affinis
- Streaky-breasted Spiderhunter Arachnothera affinis
- Bornean Spiderhunter
The Bornean Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia....
, Arachnothera everetti
- Streaked Spiderhunter
The Streaked Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist...
Arachnothera magna
- Whitehead's Spiderhunter
The Whitehead's Spiderhunter is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Malaysia....
Arachnothera juliae
External links