Mistletoebird

Mistletoebird

Dicaeum hirundinaceum

Silhouette: Rachael Joakim · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR Endemic
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Flinders Ranges National Park

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%

32 Verified sightings at Flinders Ranges National Park From 2019 to 2026
2,342 In all 19 parks
June Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Mistletoebird

The mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum), also known as the mistletoe flowerpecker, 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. The mistletoebird eats mainly the berries of the parasitic mistletoe and is a vector for the spread of the mistletoe's seeds through its digestive system.

The mistletoebird is one of 54 species of the flowerpecker family Dicaeidae. The flowerpeckers are considered to be nearest in avian evolutionary relationship to the sunbird family Nectariniidae. Both the flowerpeckers and sunbirds are thought to be early offshoots of the early passeroid radiation that occurred 20-30 million years ago. The sunbirds are found mainly in Africa and Asia and the flowerpeckers throughout Asia. The mistletoebird is a geologically recent arrival into Australia from South-East Asia. It is thought to have started colonizing Australia from about two million years ago.

The mistletoebird is a mistletoe-feeding specialist and mistletoe-feeding specialists have evolved independently... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:11

Australia · 2026

© Marc Anderson · XC1084966 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song0:34

Australia · 2025

© Étienne Leroy · XC1074097 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song and call0:12

Australia · 2025

© Peter Boesman · XC1066536 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Litchfield National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~40%
2 Kakadu National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~30%
3 Daintree National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~30%
4 Nitmiluk National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~30%
5 Springbrook National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~20%
6 Noosa National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~20%
7 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%
8 Flinders Ranges National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%
9 Cape Range 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%
10 Ningaloo Marine Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%
11 Lamington National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%
12 Grampians National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
13 Blue Mountains National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
14 Great Otway National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
15 Kosciuszko National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
16 Hattah-Kulkyne National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
17 Wilsons Promontory National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
18 Booderee National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
19 Royal National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Brisbane 🇦🇺 Australia
~20%
2 Perth 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
3 Melbourne 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
4 Sydney 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Alice Springs Desert Park 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
2 Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Mistletoebird in Flinders Ranges National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mistletoebird sighting in Flinders Ranges National Park on a given day, based on 32 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 54th most-seen of the 94 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Mistletoebird in Flinders Ranges National Park?

June

In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Mistletoebird in Flinders Ranges National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, September and November, the lowest months. December has too few records to rate.

What time of day is best to see a Mistletoebird?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mistletoebird sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Flinders Ranges National Park the best place to see a Mistletoebird?

8th of 19

Of the 19 parks where we can rate Mistletoebird sightings, Flinders Ranges National Park ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Litchfield National Park (Australia, about 40%), Kakadu National Park (Australia, about 30%) and Daintree National Park (Australia, about 30%).

Which relatives of the Mistletoebird live in Flinders Ranges National Park?

Same order: Passeriformes

The closest relatives of the Mistletoebird that you can see in Flinders Ranges National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Australian Raven (about 80%), Australian Magpie (about 80%) and Yellow-throated Miner (about 80%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Mistletoebird sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Mistletoebird is recorded against all the birds logged in Flinders Ranges National Park (32 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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