FLOWERPECKER 8/12 - Scarlet-breasted Flowerpecker (Male)

It was a tough bird to see and shoot as it stayed up in the higher canopy of the ficus tree ; I would say about 20ft. I managed to see it once in the morning at about 9.30am  in Merapoh Old Quarters side. Thought the picture was a bit soft because of the foliage in the foreground;  and  I struggled to manual focus but it was too active to catch it momentarily stationary as it scour for a ripe berry.

Like to  thank my fellow birder Azman KualaLipis boy for his tip off  on  this bird. At least you KL guys now know that you need not have to go up north to Kuala Sidim Kedah or Panti to see this gorgeous  bird.

This is my first encounter of this male fp; my third lifer in 2017 bringing my tally to 473. Its features are very distinct and contrasty from its black head and breast with the red patch to its breast like a napkin or "shield of armor". The female is much plainer with a grey head and with whitish throat and a tingy orange- yellow breast.

I would say it is the best looker of the 11 species of flowerpecker that you can see in Peninsula Malaysia. In Sabah you can see another flowerpecker - Yellow-bellied which is largest kind at 13cm compared to common ones at 10cm.