The pale-billed flowerpecker or Tickell's flowerpecker is a tiny bird that feeds on nectar and berries, found in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and western Myanmar. The bird is common especially in urban gardens with berry bearing trees. They have a rapid chipping call and the pinkish curved beak separates it from other species in the region.
Region
South Asia
Typical Environment
Found widely across India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and western Myanmar in lowland to mid-elevation habitats. It frequents urban and suburban gardens, orchards, plantations, open woodland, and forest edge. Berry-bearing trees such as mistletoes and figs attract it, as do flowering shrubs with nectar-rich blooms. The species adapts well to human-dominated landscapes provided there is tree cover and seasonal fruiting plants.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called Tickell's flowerpecker, this tiny bird is a prolific disperser of mistletoe seeds, often wiping the sticky seeds onto branches after feeding. It thrives in gardens, orchards, and scrub where berry-bearing trees and flowering shrubs are abundant. Its soft, rapid chipping call and distinctly pale pinkish, slightly curved bill make it easy to pick out. The species builds a neat, purse-like hanging nest stitched with spider silk.
Temperament
active and somewhat inconspicuous; usually in singles or pairs
Flight Pattern
short, rapid wingbeats with direct dashes between perches
Social Behavior
Typically seen alone or in pairs, occasionally joining mixed-species flocks in fruiting trees. Pairs maintain small foraging territories around food sources. The nest is a small hanging pouch of plant fibers bound with spider silk, with a side entrance. Both adults tend the young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A series of thin, high-pitched chips and rapid tseet notes delivered in short bursts. Calls are frequent while foraging and can sound like a rapid, tinkling chatter.
Plumage
Compact, short-tailed bird with olive-brown upperparts and pale greyish to buff underparts; smooth, plain plumage with minimal streaking.
Diet
Feeds on small berries (notably mistletoes and figs), nectar from flowers, and small insects and spiders. Often swallows fruits whole and helps disperse seeds, including by wiping sticky mistletoe seeds onto branches. Gleans tiny arthropods from leaves and twigs between bouts of fruit and nectar feeding.
Preferred Environment
Forages in the canopy and mid-story of gardens, orchards, roadside trees, and forest edge. Frequently visits flowering and fruiting trees and shrubs within urban parks and village groves.
