Animalia Life
Sphecotheres viridis
TAXONOMY
Specoterasic viridis Vieillot, 1816, Australasia = Kupang, Timor.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Green figbird; French: Sphйcothиre figuier; German:
Feigenpirol; Spanish: Papahigos de Timor.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
8.7–9.5 in (22–24 cm); 2.4–2.8 oz (75–80 gm), both sexes. A
small, slender figbird; males are plain olive ventrally, with gray
throat, undertail, and feet. Dark head with rough bare eyeskin
colored deep buff but changing to red when excited. Throat to
vent greenish yellow.
DISTRIBUTION
Endemic to Timor.
HABITAT
Primary and secondary vine and gallery forest, forest edge,
woodland, and mangroves.
BEHAVIOR
Solitary to communal, feeding locally through tree crowns in
small loose flocks. Calls from exposed position in tree tops:
muted, burred, metallic whistled trills.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Little recorded; observed feeding on small, soft fruit in trees,
including figs.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Not known.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Widespread and moderately abundant; copes with habitats affected
by disturbance.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
Photo Gallery of - Timor figbird
