Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker

The scarlet-backed flowerpecker is a small, short-tailed bird, 9 cm long and 7–8 g, found up to 1,000 m in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, wooded areas and gardens. It is sexually dimorphic: the male has navy-blue upperparts, face, wings and tail with a broad bright red streak down its back from the crown to the upper tail coverts, while the female and juvenile are predominantly olive-green. It is found across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and has been recorded from both native and plantation forest in West Bengal (Wikipedia, general species account).

It has been observed feeding on the figs of Ficus fistulosa and F. grossularoides in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore. It weaves a pouch-shaped nest hanging from a branch high in a tree, with a side entrance typical of the flowerpecker family. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, a resident of forest and plantation with a Moderate range of about 117,000 km² and a stable long-term trend (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).