Mistletoebird

Mistletoebird

Dicaeum hirundinaceum

Silhouette: Rachael Joakim · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR Endemic
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Ningaloo Marine Park

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%

24 Verified sightings at Ningaloo Marine Park From 2019 to 2026
2,342 In all 19 parks
August 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 Ningaloo Marine Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mistletoebird sighting in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 66th most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Mistletoebird in Ningaloo Marine Park?

April and July–September

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mistletoebird in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–June and October–March, the lowest months.

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 Ningaloo Marine Park the best place to see a Mistletoebird?

10th of 19

Of the 19 parks where we can rate Mistletoebird sightings, Ningaloo Marine Park ranks 10th 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 Ningaloo Marine Park?

Same order: Passeriformes

The closest relatives of the Mistletoebird that you can see in Ningaloo Marine Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Singing Honeyeater (about 70%), Pied Butcherbird (about 60%) and Welcome Swallow (about 50%), 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 Ningaloo Marine Park (24 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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