Spinebills are generally such gentle and quintessentially sweet-natured little nectarivores that it can be a rude shock to see two birds locked in seemingly mortal combat. Nonetheless, I have watched a pair of spinebills hate on each other so sincerely that their initial bickering went from what can perhaps best be described as a type of bill-swordsmanship to a full-blown pub brawl, replete with rolling about in the dirt. I was shocked, and more than a little embarrassed for them.
In this recording one spinebill is having a red-hot-go at ejecting another spinebill from a patch of flowering grevilia. At first he uses close-quarters cussing and yelling (well, to another spinebill it probably sounds like that) but if you listen carefully, you’ll hear the pfffft…pffft of rapid wingbeats as the aggressor flies up close and finally pursues the apparent intruder.