Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker – calls

“A very accommodating Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker (Prionochilus percussus ignicapilla) who allowed me to get close after 20 minutes of watching/courting.

“The calls of the Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker are not well described. At present no song has been described for my region but it makes two distinct calls, often when feeding or in flight. There are differences in literature on this, with some only recording one call and others rendering the call in a variety of forms.

“Wells (2007) states “A monosyllabic weg.”
Cheke, R. & Mann, C. (2017) in Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive state “ See-sik, sometimes fast; monosyllabic weg.

“Robson (2002) describes it as “repeated sharp high pitched teez tit-ti and buzzy whit-whit or vit-vit”.

“I have heard the calls often and feel Robson’s description is the best.

“There are two calls common calls used:

1. The less commonly used is the buzzy whit-whit or vit-vit (calls Type 1: above, below). This call can be given singly but more often twice in rapid succession. It is a more robust, ‘thicker’ call as can be seen from the waveform and sonogram.

2. The more common call is the higher pitched teez tit-ti (calls Type 2: above, below). It again can be given as a single note but usually as two notes in rapid succession. It is a ‘thinner’ note and shorter in duration than the buzzy calls.

“There is no fixed frequency to the calls and can be made every second or as long as 4-5 seconds apart. Both are used while feeding.

“The call recordings have been edited for noise reduction but you may have to increase the volume to hear them well.”

Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
30th April 2017

Location: Kledang-Sayong Forest Reserve, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Broken trail in primary jungle