Cebu flowerpecker

The Cebu flowerpecker (Dicaeum quadricolor) is a small passerine bird. It is endemic to Cebu Island in the Philippines. Feared to have become extinct early in the 20th century, it was rediscovered in 1992 in a small patch of limestone forest in Tabunan in the Central Cebu Protected Landscape It has since been claimed to be found at three other sites, namely the Nug-as forest of Alcoy, Mount Lantoy of Argao and the forests of Dalaguete. However, the only definitive proof of this bird was in its original area of discovery in Tabunan where footage of a male was captured in 1997.

While sightings and claims until the 2000s were supposedly frequent in Tabunan, this species became rarer and rarer and some now believe that this species is now extinct. This species is still reported on eBird with a possible recording in 2024 and a claimed sighting.

The main threat to this species is habitat loss. Cebu is the most deforested major island in the Philippines with only 0.3% of remaining forest cover. Majority of the sightings and the only truly verified sighting was in Tabunan which is less than 100 hectares (1sq km). Larger patches of forest exist with claimed records namely Alcoy which is around 600 hectares (6 sq km). WIth how tiny the remaining potential habitat is, this species is especially sensitve to storms which have since destroyed the last few remaining large trees.

From the Wikipedia article “Cebu flowerpecker” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cebu_flowerpecker&oldid=1384346411), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.