Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker Dicaeum melanoxanthum occurs northern India to Vietnam, and in China from southeastern Tibet and western Sichuan to Yunnan. Larger and more enterprising than most flowerpeckers, with seasonal migrations taking it as high as 4000 m. Eats mainly mistletoe berries. Monotypic. Diagnostic white throat stripe extends to center of breast. Throat stripe contrasts sharply with blue-black breast sides, face, and upperparts of male and contrasts less sharply with corresponding greyish parts of female. Male has bright yellow belly; duller in female. White on tail tip most easily seen from beneath. Bill and feet dark grey; iris chestnut in male, brown in female. Juvenile male duller and less blue than adult, but brighter than female. Makes nervous, buzzing calls. — Craig Brelsford
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
