Birds Thru My Eyes : MALAYSIA: Spiderhunter; Streaked

Monday, 8 August 2016

Order - Passeriformes
Family - Nectariniidae (Sunbirds)

Streaked Spiderhunter

Arachnothera magna

纹背捕蛛鸟 (wén-bèi bǔ-zhū-niǎo)

Malay : Kelicap-Jantung Gunung Biasa

Japanese : タテジマクモカリドリ (tate-jima kumo-kari-dori)

Kanji 日語漢字 : 竪縞蜘蛛狩り鳥

  Extent of Occurrence (resident/breeding) : 4,560,000km²
  Migratory Status : Not a Migrant
  Breeding Endemic : No

Size : 17–20·5 cm; Male 28–34·5g, Female 23·9 g

Subspecies (5) and Distribution

Arachnothera magna magna (Hodgson, 1836, Nepal)
– Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, eastern Bangladesh, and northeastern India east to southern China (southeastern Tibet east to western, southern, and southeastern Yunnan, southwestern Guizhou, and western Guangxi), and northern Myanmar.
Arachnothera magna aurata (Blyth, 1855, Pegu)
– Central and eastern Myanmar.

Identification :
– Described as similar to nominate magna, but smaller and with the central dark streaks on the feathers narrower less extensive, with almost no streaks on rump; rump is also golden, while the undertail coverts are dusky-olive and broadly tipped with yellowish-white.

Arachnothera magna musarum (Deignan, 1956, Doi Phu Kha, lat. 19° 05' N., long. 101° 05' E., Nan Province, Thailand)
– Southeastern Myanmar, northern Thailand, Laos, and northern Vietnam (western Tonkin).

Identification :
– Described as similar to nominate magna, but overall "decidedly less suffused with golden" and the underparts "only faintly washed with pale yellow".

Arachnothera magna pagodarum (Deignan, 1956, Ban Hin Laem, lat. 14° 40' N., long. 98° 40' E., Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand)
– Southern Myanmar, western Thailand, and southern Malay Peninsula.

Identification :
– Similar to musarum, but differs in its upperparts having less gold suffusion, appearing duller and greener, and in having less clearly defined streaks. Also similar to aurata, but differs in the bolder streaks on the upperparts, and bolder, wider streaks on the underparts.

Arachnothera magna remota (Riley, 1940, Langbian Peaks, 7,020 ft., southern Annam)
– South-central and southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia.

Identification :
– Described as similar to nominate magna, but with more greenish-yellow on the upperparts, smaller black centers to the feathers on the head and back, and more yellow on the underparts. From aurata, it differs in its lighter yellow underparts and bolder streaking.