Orange-bellied Flowerpecker

January is a significant month to note that Lipote (Syzygium curranii) tree starts to bloom and mixed flocks get underway to skirt around.

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker is a regionally distributed over Asia. Geographical variation considerable, but no outstanding candidates for species rank. Races form two main groups, “dorsale group” in the Philippines (rump patch, if present, separated from red of back) and “trigonostigma group” (rump patch continuous with red of back) in rest of range. Philippine group divides into four subgroups: “dorsale subgroup” (Luzon to W Visayan Is, excluding Sibuyan Sea islands), “sibuyanicum subgroup” (Sibuyan Sea islands), “cinereigulare subgroup” (E Visayan Is S to Mindanao), and “sibutuense subgroup” (Sulu Archipelago)