I watched a male Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum ignitum) for an extended period and recorded some calls.
Special Note: Since I used a directional mike, these calls can be heard quite clearly when played-back on the camera. They also play well on my hand-phone. But for some reason they can hardly be heard on my computer speakers, even though the waveform shows them to be loud calls. I suspect it has something to do with the very high pitched nature of the calls that does not playback well on my computer speakers. If you listen to these calls, I would suggest using the hand-phone (appreciate any insights into these issues, form someone with better audio skills).
Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers make a variety of calls which are described in literature in many different ways. The classical calls (or common calls) are seen in sonogram/waveform above and heard on this SoundCloud link: https://soundcloud.com/amar-singh-hss/scarlet-backed-flowerpecker-calls-1-2-classical-ipoh-perak-malaysia-7th-january-2019 6 sharp, very high pitched, notes (occasionally 7) are belted out in almost same volume within a second. They are repeated 5-8 seconds apart. The bird is usually perched on the tip of high, bare branch when making these calls (below). I think Craig Robson translates them best as “tissit”.
A variation of the common calls are seen in sonogram/waveform in Post 1 and heard on this SoundCloud link: https://soundcloud.com/amar-singh-hss/scarlet-backed-flowerpecker-dicaeum-cruentatum-ignitum_variation-of-calls
During these calls the bird perched on a bare branch tends to have more movement and turn the head in different directions. These calls are more varied in the number of notes, frequency and quality, and are of longer duration (2-2.5 seconds).
Amar-Singh HSS (Dato’ Dr)
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Location: Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Secondary growth at city fringe
Date: 7th January 2019
Equipment: Nikon D500 SLR with Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD, handheld with Rode VideoMic Pro Plus Shotgun Microphone
