mistletoebird
mistletoe flowerpecker

The female Mistletoebird builds the nest by herself with no help from the male.

The Mistletoebird eats a variety of different foods.

These seeds are transported to other trees by the Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum).

The Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) eats the fruit.

Some species, such as the Mistletoebird of Australia, are recorded as being highly nomadic over parts of their range.

Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA of 70% of flowerpecker species showed the Mistletoebird and Red-capped Flowerpecker (D. geelvinkianum) to be each other's closest relative.

The Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) is a species of flowerpecker native to most of Australia (though absent from Tasmania and the driest desert areas), and also to the eastern Maluku Islands of Indonesia in the Arafura Sea between Australia and New Guinea.

In the species where data has been collected they apparently form monogamous pairs for breeding, but the division of labour varies; in Scarlet-breasted Flowerpeckers both parents participate in all aspects of nest building, incubation and chick rearing, but in the Mistletoebird the female undertakes the first two tasks alone.

The seeds are dispersed by various birds, particularly by the mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) that eat the fruit and then either wipes the sticky remains from the beak or when defecating has to wipe it from its feathers onto, most often, a twig due to the extremely sticky nature of the seed.